Austerity measures remain in place
Lindner lifts the budget freeze with immediate effect
December 15, 2023, 12:14 a.m
In November, the Federal Constitutional Court axed the federal government’s special fund worth billions for climate and transformation projects. Finance Minister Lindner then pulls the emergency brake. Three weeks later the reins are loosened again – halfway.
The FDP-led Federal Ministry of Finance has lifted the budget freeze imposed a good three weeks ago with immediate effect. This emerges from a letter from Finance State Secretary Steffen Saebisch to the other government ministries, which the Reuters news agency was able to see in the evening.
Interim agreements would continue to apply. Accordingly, agreed savings must be implemented, according to the email dated December 14th. “Regardless of this, the Federal Ministry of Finance recommends that commitment authorizations be used as sparingly as possible, with a view to the overall budgetary situation and the coming financial years.”
The budget freeze was the traffic light government’s reaction to the far-reaching ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court in mid-November. Initially it only applied to the KTF climate fund, but was then expanded to cover almost the entire budget. This stopped so-called commitment appropriations in the current financial year, i.e. permission to incur future expenditure. Existing liabilities were excluded from this.
The Constitutional Court had removed 60 billion euros from the KTF to the federal government because the transfer of unused Corona loans there was unconstitutional. The traffic light is therefore short of money. On Friday, the Bundestag and Bundesrat are expected to decide on the consequences for the 2023 budget. With a supplementary budget, 60 billion euros will be removed from the KTF reserve. For other special government funds, in particular the WSF energy crisis fund, new loans totaling 44.8 billion euros must be taken out. To achieve this, the debt brake anchored in the Basic Law must be suspended again for the fourth year in a row.