On the occasion of today’s hearing on the NRW state budget for 2024, Anja Weber, chairwoman of the DGB NRW, is calling for a paradigm shift in financial policy:
“North Rhine-Westphalia is increasingly living off its substance: Broken roads and railways, dilapidated schools, too few daycare places, a lack of living space and underfunded hospitals have become the norm for its citizens,” explains Anja Weber, chairwoman of the DGB NRW. “It is the task of the state government to finally end this shortage and to invest more in the future of our state.”
A study commissioned by the DGB NRW showed that NRW would have to make around 156 billion euros in public investments over the next 10 years in order not to continue to lose touch with the development of Germany as a whole. “Unfortunately, the current budget draft does not meet this requirement,” said Weber. “From the DGB’s perspective, it is incomprehensible why all design options are not being exhausted in order to provide more money for the future viability of our country.” For example, it is legally possible to set up public investment companies that are allowed to take out loans and are not subject to the debt brake. “The state government has not made enough use of this so far.”
Anja Weber describes the financial situation of many municipalities as particularly fatal, for which there is no solution in this budget either. “After the state government’s concept was abandoned because it was unsuitable, improvements must now be made quickly: the state must develop a viable solution that actually relieves our municipalities and frees them from their structurally-related old debts. Our cities and communities must finally get their ability to act back.”
There is no way budget policy can continue like this, Weber summarizes: “The huge investment backlog in North Rhine-Westphalia is not only at the expense of competitiveness and the establishment of new jobs. Trust in our democracy is also at risk if the state is no longer perceived as fully capable of acting. We cannot allow that, especially in these times of crisis.”
Further information
The statement from the DGB NRW on the draft budget for 2024 can be found here.
The study “Invest now!” commissioned by the DGB NRW can be found here.
2023-10-19 08:34:02
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