German Finance Minister Christian Lindner called on other German ministries to constantly raise the question of the meaning and purpose of spending budget funds before demanding additional financing. His words in an interview with the German newspaper Media Group Bayern were quoted on May 11 by BERLIN 24/7.
He said development and foreign ministers would need to ask themselves: “Are we really improving the lives of citizens with tax money and do our projects serve German interests?”
At the same time, support for Ukraine has been and remains one of Germany’s main spending items. “In international politics, strict security and support for Ukraine should be a priority. “This is about peace and freedom for Germany.”“emphasized the minister.
Therefore, Lindner believes, when we allocate budget funds to other countries, we must talk about precision and scale. “Since the time of the CSU Development Minister, Müller, there have been projects in Peru that deserve to be considered, such as the famous bike lanes.”Lindner said.
While the Minister of Finance has asked the ministries to save money, the newspaper writes, several departments are demanding additional funds, among them the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Annalena Baerbock, and the Minister of Development, Svenja Schulze. On Tuesday, Lindner had to briefly suspend the cabinet’s drafting of the already agreed second pension package: According to media reports, Labor Minister Hubertus Heil has made particularly high demands in the negotiations on the 2025 budget.
“The submission of requests for the 2025 federal budget did not give the impression that everyone had woken up to economic reality. That is why I first had to check with the Chancellor and the Minister of the Economy if we were still aware of what was happening.”said the Minister of Finance.
As FDP leader Lindner noted, he never threatened to dissolve the coalition. “But it is clear to everyone that an agreement on the budget and economic recovery is necessary so that in the end projects like the pension package obtain a majority in the Bundestag.”he added.
At the same time, Lindner again rejected Defense Minister Boris Pistorius’ demand to remove the debt brake on defense spending, as well as some parts of the anti-crisis provision. The Minister of Finance stated that he should not agree with this demand: “We cannot finance the defense of the country and the alliance through loans. Debt levels and interest burden will increase”.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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