Budget 2024 adopted in the German parliament
Published: Friday, Feb 2nd 2024, 12:40
Back to Live Feed
After a delay of several weeks, the German parliament passed the hard-fought budget for the current year on Friday. It provides for expenditure of 476.8 billion euros - and new loans of around 39 billion euros for the time being.
If this remains the case, the debt brake would be adhered to again for the first time since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, as the provision in the Basic Law allows a certain amount of leeway in the event of poor economic expectations. The Bundesrat, the chamber of the 16 German states, is also expected to give the green light for the budget later today.
The federal budget for 2024 presented the coalition of the SPD, Greens and FDP with a particular challenge. Following the ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court, billions of euros suddenly had to be plugged in the core budget and in the climate and transformation fund shortly before the end of the year.
The SPD, Greens and FDP agreed on an austerity program that includes a higher ticket tax for passenger flights and the gradual abolition of tax benefits for agricultural diesel for farmers. These measures will be implemented in a separate law - which, however, still has to pass the Bundesrat.
The state subsidy for electric cars expired last year, just days after the agreement was reached. There are also stricter rules for the citizen's income.
Nevertheless, the opposition accuses the coalition government of not making proper savings. The CDU/CSU in particular criticized the government for talking about it but actually continuing to live beyond its means. The traffic light government wants to spend considerably more money than before the coronavirus crisis. The CDU/CSU's chief budget officer, Christian Haase, also criticized on Friday that the budget preparation process could not be surpassed in terms of audacity.
Finance Minister Christian Lindner defended the plans: he said that the coalition was demonstrating "creative ambition". The FDP politician referred to record investments of 70.5 billion euros - for example in railways, roads and networks. At the same time, the tax rate for the population is falling.
The coalition's course was defended in parliament by the coalition budget. SPD chief budget officer Dennis Rohde said that both internal and external as well as social security would be strengthened. "Consolidation in this country will not take place on the backs of the weakest members of our society. That is why this is a good budget."
FDP chief budget officer Otto Fricke said that the debt brake would be adhered to again, the social level of spending would be maintained and the tax rate would fall. In contrast, the CDU/CSU once again criticized the planned removal of subsidies for agricultural diesel, for example.
The defense budget is around 52 billion euros, plus billions from the "special fund" for the Bundeswehr. The biggest savings compared to the previous year are in the Ministry of Health, as many coronavirus-related expenses have been eliminated.
©Keystone/SDA
English 
German 
French 
Spanish 
Arabic