Sunday 18th July 2021
“Needs national show of strength”
Scholz wants to pay out emergency aid quickly
The Chancellor has already promised federal aid for the flood areas, now the finance minister is more specific. Immediate payments should reach those affected this month, announced Olaf Scholz. Economics Minister Altmaier wants special support for companies that have already been shaken by the Corona crisis.
After the flood disaster in western Germany, Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz promised emergency aid in the three-digit million range. “It takes a national show of strength,” said the SPD politician of “Bild am Sonntag”.
On Wednesday in the cabinet he wanted to put two things on the table. “Firstly, an immediate aid, significantly more than 300 million euros were needed for the last flood. So much will be needed now,” said Scholz. “Second, we have to lay the foundations for a reconstruction program so that the destroyed houses, roads and bridges can be repaired quickly. As we know from the previous disaster, billions of euros are involved.”
According to Scholz, it should be done quickly. “As early as July, the first emergency aid should be given to those affected, if possible,” he explained. “The construction aid needs a little more time. But everything should be in place this year.” The acute emergency aid from the federal government should be paid out via the states of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best to decide on site who needs support most urgently. “Anyone who has lost their business, their house, cannot bear the damage alone,” said Scholz. “We now have to stand together as a country and help the flood victims quickly, generously and unbureaucratically.”
No need to borrow
Chancellor Angela Merkel promised support to those affected on Thursday. Scholz had already said that aid should go to the federal states, the districts, the municipalities and also the citizens. Scholz does not consider new loans to finance the emergency aid to be necessary: ”We can do what is now necessary with the funds that are now available to us,” he told the newspaper. “Experience has shown that the funds for the reconstruction will be required step by step in the coming years, and we will do that.”
Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier has meanwhile brought a lump sum of up to 10,000 euros into play for those companies that are affected by the flood disaster and the corona crisis. “I advocate a corona flood lump sum of up to 10,000 euros for companies that have been hit twice as badly,” said the CDU politician of “Bild am Sonntag”. The livelihoods of many companies in the tourism and wine-growing areas have been destroyed. But he also expects the insurance companies to quickly pay out the damage sums and that the business partners of the companies that have been hit will be accommodating.
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