Majority of Germans do not want to relax the debt brake
A clear majority of Germans are in favor of retaining the Debt Brake in its current form. Only a minority of 25 percent argue for allowing higher debts for investments.
More than half of the Germans are in favor of the Debt Brake remaining in place. This is the result of a Forsa survey for the RTL/ntv Trendbarometer. In this survey, 55 percent of the respondents said that the Debt Brake should continue to apply.
A quarter of the respondents said that higher debts should be allowed for investments - a position held by many economists. Seven percent advocate for completely abolishing the Debt Brake.
The Debt Brake has been in the Basic Law since 2009. It stipulates that the federal government and the states can only take on credits within a limited framework when drawing up their budgets. However, the federal government and the states can deviate from the Debt Brake within the existing rules in cases of natural disasters or other exceptional emergency situations. Politicians from the SPD and Greens are calling for such an emergency situation to be declared for the budget in 2025. The FDP opposes this. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz has taken a clear stance in favor of the FDP. Currently, Scholz, Economics Minister Robert Habeck, and Finance Minister Christian Lindner are negotiating the basic principles of the budget for the coming year. An agreement is expected by Friday.
Majority in favor of relaxing the Debt Brake to enable higher investments are only the supporters of the Greens. The supporters of the SPD argue for retaining the Debt Brake in its current form by 46 percent. Forty-two percent of them are in favor of allowing higher debts for investments. Those in favor of maintaining the Debt Brake are primarily the supporters of the FDP (81 percent) and the Union (63 percent).
The data was collected by the Market and Opinion Research Institute Forsa on behalf of RTL Germany on July 1 and 2. Sample size: 1006 respondents. Statistical error margin: plus/minus 3 percentage points.
Further information about Forsa can be found here.
Forsa surveys for RTL Germany.
- The political debate surrounding the public debt and the Debt Brake has seen a significant shift, with surveys showing that a majority of supporters for the FDP and Union are in favor of maintaining the Debt Brake in its current form.
- In response to the data from the recent RTL/ntv Trend Barometer survey conducted by Forsa, economists advocating for higher debts for investments represent only a minority of 25%, while the majority (55%) supports the Debt Brake remaining intact.
- The results from the Forsa survey suggest that politicians seeking to relax the Debt Brake for budget policy in 2025, such as those from the SPD and Greens, are in the minority, with only supporters of the Greens advocating for such a move.
