BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze (SPD) has spoken out in favor of reforming the debt brake. This should enable further state investments in the development of a climate-neutral economy, as Schulze told the editorial network Germany (RND / Sonntag). “Massive investments in the socio-ecological restructuring of the national economy are urgently needed. The European Union has decided that it wants to become climate-neutral by 2050. The way there is through major investment and modernization programs for our economies.”
Schulze called for an “honest debate” on how many and what investments are necessary in this decade. She criticized the fact that the current rules of the debt brake do not allow the loan financing of future investments. “Every company finances investments in the future on credit because it knows that good investments will pay off. This is how sustainable policy works – not by rigidly following rules from pre-crisis times,” said Schulze. “We mustn’t save the earth to death.”
With Schulze’s remarks, the debate about how the federal budget should continue in the coming years – whether new debts should be taken on, whether there should be tax increases or spending cuts. The federal government has taken on immense debts, for example to finance aid programs worth billions for the economy.
For this, the debt brake anchored in the Basic Law was suspended. Recently, Chancellor Helge Braun (CDU) started a debate about the continuation of the debt brake. It only allows new loans to a very limited extent. The corona crisis, however, continues. The federal government expects less growth this year than initially hoped./hoe/DP/fba
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