The traffic light factions have described the 2023 federal budget as an answer to the global crisis and defended it against criticism from the opposition.
“We leave no one alone in these crises, not in Germany, but also not internationally and no people in the global south,” said the budget spokesman for the Greens, Sven-Christian Kindler, in Berlin.
That is why the traffic light focused on the major international crises and wars. For example, the Federal Foreign Office received an additional one billion euros for humanitarian aid and civilian crisis prevention. Another billion euros have been set aside for the fight against hunger and for the World Food Program. At the same time, climate protection has been strengthened with an additional 600 million euros. An additional EUR 600 million has also been made available for energy efficiency and renewable energies.
Criticism from the Union: “Will to save” is missing
The coalition budget holders rejected the Union’s accusation that the traffic light government lacked the will to save. The Union has “no answer as to how it specifically wants to support people and companies in Germany in these difficult times. It always only demands, but if you look at the budget figures carefully, what the Union is doing in budgetary policy is dubious and dishonest ‘ Kindler said.
With regard to the new debt, the FDP budget politician Otto Fricke said: “I’d like to say it again for my party: We are not supporters of the black zero.” But if things go better again in the year after next, “it may also be that the economic component means that we can incur less debt”.
The federal budget for the coming year was decided on Friday morning after an 18-hour so-called adjustment session. It now envisages spending of around 476.29 billion euros. The federal government is taking out loans of 45.6 billion euros for this purpose. Due to the poor economic expectations in the coming year, these are allowed despite the debt brake – the scope is fully exploited. The Bundestag is to finally approve the budget in the session week from November 22nd to 25th.
