The Bavarian finance minister is disappointed with the FDP.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin The Union wants to attack the traffic light coalition primarily in financial policy. The new Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) can prepare for a lot of criticism from the opposition. The Bavarian Finance Minister and CSU politician Albert Füracker makes this clear.
Mr. Füracker, the traffic lights want to comply with the debt brake again from 2023. In the coalition agreement, however, instruments are named as to how the future finance minister Christian Lindner can still create room for maneuver. Should he use it?
It feels like there is real competition in the traffic light coalition to invent circumventing facts for the debt brake. The coalition agreement is a collection of ideas on how the debt rule can be overturned. What is completely missing, however: information on what the traffic light projects cost and how they want to be financed. That is astonishing. Normally, a coalition agreement should clarify exactly that. At the traffic lights, however, the motto was “Make a wish”.
Some lawyers and the Federal Court of Auditors doubt whether it is constitutional to incur more debts than necessary in the exceptional Corona year in order to build up a reserve that will be used to finance things like climate protection in the future. How do you see it
I read these assessments with interest. I’m not a constitutional expert, I’m a politician. So far we only see the possible measures in the coalition agreement. An assessment is only possible when the future Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner presents his first budget. However, I find it disappointing that the FDP signs such a coalition agreement. The Liberals, like the Union, have always stood firm on the debt brake, and now they keep all options open on how to outsmart this rule. I would have expected more stability from Lindner and the FDP. After all, the debt brake is particularly about intergenerational equity.
Dealing with debts is also being discussed at European level. In view of the high post-pandemic debt, isn’t it inevitable that the EU’s debt ceilings will be raised?
That is not inevitable, that would be irresponsible. Europe has been stuck in crisis management for ten years. The European Central Bank (ECB) did everything that was possible in terms of monetary policy. In the pandemic, many countries have exhausted their financial leeway. If we just relax the debt rules now, that would break the dam. It would mean: if things get uncomfortable, then we just change the rules. That would jeopardize the stability of the monetary union and put the EU to an acid test in the long term.
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What do you expect from a Federal Minister of Finance Lindner?
That he will keep what he promised in the election campaign: First, no relaxation of the EU debt rules. Lindner must ensure a uniform position for the federal government and then defend the stability criteria in Brussels. Second, the ECB needs to be appealed to take the rising inflation risks more into account in its measures. The US Federal Reserve is already taking countermeasures. The ECB, on the other hand, continues to put its hands on its lap.
Germany in particular has always attached great importance to the independence of the ECB. Is that no longer the case?
Of course, the ECB is and must remain independent. But it has to face public discussion. We cannot simply accept it when the ECB threatens to exceed its mandate. Their job is monetary stability and not monetary state financing – that could also affect their independence. We have had zero interest rates and billions of dollars in bond purchases for years now. Highly indebted countries in particular benefit from this policy of cheap money, as a potential for addiction has developed. One must be able to point out these dangers.
Would a change in monetary policy make sense in the current uncertain economic situation?
No person who thinks about financial policy would currently demand an immediate increase in the key interest rate to, for example, two percent. But we need – as in the US from the Fed – a signal from the ECB now in Europe that it is taking inflation risks seriously. A first step could be to scale back bond purchases. The ECB has never really left crisis mode for ten years. Therefore, even in the pandemic, there is little she can do to support the real economy – she has simply already shot her gun. The states had to incur huge debts in order to counteract this. This in turn creates pressure on the ECB to keep interest rates low despite rising inflation. This is a very dangerous situation.
The outgoing President of the Bundesbank, Jens Weidmann, has always warned against this. What qualities should his successor have?
Jens Weidmann has repeatedly pointed out the risks of ECB policy. His successor should build on this. And he needs a similarly high level of frustration tolerance. Weidmann is not the first German central banker to quit. As a falcon you are lonely in the ECB. It is all the more important that Weidmann’s successor as Bundesbank President continues to hold up the flag of monetary stability.
Mr. Füracker, thank you very much for the interview.
More: Coalition agreement signed – Lindner praises Scholz’s financial planning as “forward-looking”