The state government has increased its Bavarian energy hardship fund by another 500 million euros. Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) announced this on Sunday after the cabinet’s budget meeting. The fund total will thus increase to 1.5 billion euros. In addition to small and medium-sized companies, associations, clinics, nursing, social and educational institutions, the state government now wants to help citizens whose livelihoods are threatened by the energy crisis. According to Söder, the fund applies to users of all forms of heating. In addition, there are the guarantees of the development bank LfA for companies in financial difficulties, which were also agreed some time ago, again up to 500 million euros. The guarantees cover 80 to 90 percent of the loan amount of up to ten million euros. Both hardship funds and guarantees are a supplement to federal aid. If the total of two billion euros is not enough, there is still “room for improvement,” said Söder. In addition, the Free State is examining releasing Eon shares of currently around 250 million euros and investing this sum in Bayerngas GmbH, a municipal company whose shareholders include the Munich and Augsburg public utilities.
Everything will be solidly financed from the planned budget for 2023, said Söder, there are no special assets, “no tricks”. The Free State does not want to incur any new debts, as Finance Minister Albert Füracker (CSU) recently announced in the tax estimate. The budget is “constitutionally flawless,” said Söder with a view to the debt brake. There will again be a one-year budget with almost the same volume as this year: 71 billion euros. The overall situation remains tense, said Füracker on Sunday, “everything has been weighed up, every euro so to speak”, a “complicated architecture”. Participation in federal relief, including the 49-euro ticket, was also planned. The state parliament will now deal with the budget draft, it is the king’s right of parliament.