These are not easy times for the government in general and the finance minister in particular: a budget has to be put together again, and everyone is still sore from last time. Nevertheless, Christian Lindner now has to get the next budget through the cabinet by July, which will be, well, interesting this time too. On the one hand, a third of the cabinet shows what the liberal treasurer sees as an irritatingly stubborn refusal to comply with the austerity requirements. And on the other hand, the tax estimate that will be announced this Thursday should give him as much joy as his colleagues’ willingness to cooperate, namely none.
While the debt brake, weak tax revenues and immodest wishes merge into a difficult puzzle, the opposition is once again responsible for the good news. A small question from the Union faction revealed that even in what feels like the late autumn of the crisis, there are still citizens who want to help this government. The Union faction asked about the federal government’s debt repayment account, which has existed since 2006 and to which every citizen can transfer money if they want to help reduce the national debt. And lo and behold: In its response, the government said that the account had “proven its worth” and “should be retained in its current form.”
The statistics since 2022 show 17 to 97 depositors, depending on the month; The highest transfer was made by a charitable citizen in April 2023 with 25,000 euros. In January of this year, when Lindner had to get his delayed 2024 budget through parliament, citizens helped him with at least 21,933.95 euros. After that, however, the enthusiasm for paying off debts waned somewhat. Not even 2,000 euros in February, a good 3,300 euros in March and exactly 874.52 euros by April 22nd: Of course, the finance minister doesn’t get very far with a per capita debt of 30,676 euros.
For some people, that’s a bit too much modesty
On the other hand, transfers with the subject line “debt repayment”, “debt reduction” or “donation” are of course also about gesture and attitude, not just about euros and cents. That’s probably how the finance department sees it, because it explains in its answer that there is no reference to the debt repayment account on the ministry’s website because it “is not advertised by the federal government”.
The federal government pays off its debts from its regular income, and the population already makes a “significant contribution” to this through tax liability. Committed citizens are allowed to make voluntary payments – but nothing is expected and no one is encouraged. This is a bit too much modesty for CDU financial politician Matthias Hauer. He thinks the state should make it transparent that the debt repayment account exists. Lindner’s cabinet colleagues, however, probably wouldn’t mind if the finance minister expected a little less from them.