Government leaders agree on new budget with billions in deficit
"Long-standing experiences from household practice show that not all projects can be realized within a fiscal year," the government statement read. "This results in a 'residue' of funds." These funds could then be offset against the twelve billion euros.
The agreed changes to the draft budget would now be decided by the cabinet in the so-called circulation procedure, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit further announced. This means that the cabinet does not meet, but votes in writing. Afterwards, the new draft can be sent to the Bundestag and Bundesrat.
The federal cabinet had already approved the draft budget for 2025 in mid-July. At that time, there was still a financing gap of around 17 billion euros, which was to be significantly reduced by various measures. However, there was renewed dispute over the exact path. Scholz, Habeck, and Lindner resumed talks with the aim of achieving a result by this Friday.
I'm not going to sugarcoat it, the financing gap in the budget proposal was significantly larger than initially anticipated. Despite the government's efforts to bridge it, there's been ongoing debate about the most effective solutions.
