Germany’s new Finance Minister Christian Lindner announced on Friday that it would invest an additional 60 billion euros in climate policy.
The funding comes from remaining, unused debt that the state raised in 2021 and is due to be approved on Monday under a supplementary budget.
“Today I handed over the draft of the supplementary budget to the cabinet,” said Lindner at his first major appearance as finance minister.
The legislature of the economically liberal Free Democrats (FDP) said the investment was a “boost for the economy”.
“No more loans”
In a tweet from the finance ministry, it said that they would “get a second supplementary budget on track in 2021 to combat the effects of the pandemic and also to prepare 60 billion euros for future investments”.
“There will be no more loans,” it said.
The federal government has already borrowed € 240 billion to support companies during the pandemic, but only used € 180 billion.
The conservative Christian Democrats, now in the opposition, have questioned whether such a redeployment is permissible under budget law.
Lindner also said that part of the funds was earmarked for the “digitization” of the German economy.
FDP comes off the rails
The FDP has joined a three-party coalition with the SPD and the Greens – the so-called “traffic light coalition”.
The new government was sworn in on Wednesday under the new SPD Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
To hold the finance ministry has long been the ambition of the FDP, especially since the office of foreign minister (formerly often occupied by the FDP) traditionally goes to the second largest party in a coalition, in this case the Greens. They also managed to get their coalition partners not to raise taxes or borrow more money.
This has led some to wonder where the investment for the government’s ambitious climate plans will come from.
Green goals of the new government
Under pressure from the FDP, the government has promised to return to the so-called debt brake, which severely restricts credit.
“Only with stable finances can we live up to the principle of intergenerational equity,” said Lindner on Friday.
The coalition has pledged to get at least 80% of the country’s energy from renewable sources by 2030 and to increase the number of electric vehicles on the roads from 500,000 to 15 million over the same period.
from / msh (AFP, Reuters)
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