Status: 01.09.2022 5:45 p.m
Will net borrowing be obfuscated in the draft budget for 2023? The Federal Court of Auditors criticized this. The true state of federal finances is not clear. Finance Minister Lindner spoke of “reinforcement”.
The Federal Court of Auditors accuses the Federal Ministry of Finance of concealing the “real net borrowing” in the new federal budget. Instead of 78 billion euros, only 17.2 billion euros would be booked.
“The true state of federal finances is not clear from the draft budget,” says the report by the Court of Auditors. The expenditure of the special funds for climate protection and transformation or digital infrastructure are not clearly shown in the draft.
Not included in the official budget
The special funds run outside the normal budget and are therefore not included in the official budget. Normally, however, the economic plans would be attached to the draft budget.
“Although the debt rule is adhered to on paper and thus suggests a fiscal policy aimed at limiting new borrowing, its effectiveness is severely limited because of the actually significantly higher net new debt,” says the report.
Interest expense at previous highs
The Federal Court of Auditors also criticized the fact that the expenditure of around 500 billion euros “continues to be strongly expansive”. Interest payments jump to previous highs.
The federal government will lose around one hundred billion euros in tax distribution from 2022 to 2026 – “through waivers in favor of the states”. In addition, the federal government finances “state expenditure with dubious effectiveness”.
Lindner: Report is reinforcement
“I do not see the report of the Federal Court of Auditors as criticism, but as encouragement to continue working consistently on stable state finances in the long term,” wrote Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner in a reaction to the report on Twitter.
“We are far from having reached our goal, but another step will be taken in 2023,” said the FDP politician.
Next week in the Bundestag
“The state finances and federal budget situation is highly dramatic,” said the Union’s budget spokesman, Christian Haase. It is important to return to the debt brake.
The Bundestag will deal with the draft budget for 2023 in the coming week.