The Federal Minister of Finance takes on debt for the supplementary budget.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin The planned supplementary budget to the federal budget for 2022 will amount to a maximum of 30 billion euros. Several government officials confirmed this to the Handelsblatt. The special budget will be well over 20, but rather under 30 billion euros, according to government circles.
It is intended to bundle aid that the federal government is providing for federal states, companies and consumers as a result of the Ukraine war. It is financed entirely by new debt.
According to Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP), the costs of the second relief package for consumers to cushion the sharp rise in energy prices alone amount to 17 billion euros.
In addition, there is aid to the federal states for the care of refugees from Ukraine. A working group is currently preparing the prime ministers’ conference that will take place this Thursday. The demands of the Union-led countries to the federal government amounted to around ten billion euros.
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The federal government declines to accept all proposals, but is expected to cover a larger part of the refugee costs. Economic aid for companies suffering from the Ukraine war is also under discussion. There were also applications from the federal ministries. However, these are said to have been limited compared to the wishes that exist in the run-up to the regular budget preparation.
Debts for the supplementary budget are now added
It was important to the Federal Ministry of Finance not to artificially inflate the budget. A higher level of new debt is “not negotiable,” it said. So far, the federal government is planning new debt of 99.7 billion euros this year.
The debts for the supplementary budget are now added to this. In addition, the federal government is borrowing 100 billion euros for the planned Bundeswehr special fund, which the federal government wants to write into the Basic Law. However, this requires a two-thirds majority and thus the approval of the Union.
The Federal Ministry of Economics is providing a further around 6.76 billion euros for Corona company aid. The Federal Ministry of Finance informed the Budget Committee of the Bundestag about this. In order to be able to quickly approve all applications received by the authorities of the federal states, around 5.32 billion euros are required. A further 1.44 billion euros would be needed for the first advance payments on the IV bridging aid.
More: Federal Court of Auditors criticizes the 100 billion euro special fund for the Bundeswehr