Consequences of the Ukraine war: countries are massively critical of the federal government’s supplementary budget

Consequences of the Ukraine war
The federal states are massively critical of the federal government’s supplementary budget

Hesse’s Prime Minister Volker Bouffier complains that groups such as pensioners and students are left empty-handed with the latest supplementary budget. Photo: Wolfgang Kumm/dpa

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Mitigating the consequences of the Ukraine war in Germany – that is the aim of the supplementary budget. But the design causes trouble. Hesse’s Prime Minister Bouffier speaks of “strong deficiencies”.

The federal states are expressing massive criticism of the federal government’s 2022 supplementary budget with the relief package for the consequences of the war in Ukraine.

“The whole thing has such serious flaws that I – at least as of today – cannot recommend approving this federal budget,” said Hesse’s Prime Minister Volker Bouffier (CDU) in a special session of the Bundesrat.

Bouffier complained that groups such as pensioners and students, who are particularly dependent on support, got nothing. Like the CDU politician, Finance Minister Reinhold Hilbers (CDU) from Lower Saxony also criticized the fact that the federal states and local authorities were “excessively asked to pay for the financing”. The relief package came from the federal government, the states were not involved at all. “Then it is also logical for the federal government to bear the associated financial burden. Anyone who orders the music should also pay for it.”

Financing through debt

The 2022 supplementary budget will essentially finance measures intended to mitigate the consequences of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine for people and the economy in Germany. The expenditure of almost 40 billion euros will be financed by new debt alone. The federal government’s new debt will thus increase to a total of 138.9 billion euros this year.

Included are, among other things, a reduction in the energy tax on fuel, an energy price flat rate of 300 euros for all employees, a 100-euro child bonus and the nine-euro ticket for local transport, which is to be available for three months.

dpa

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