Household - Ramelow: Understanding debt as an investment
In an interview with Deutschlandfunk radio, Minister President Bodo Ramelow has called for a different understanding of debt. "Everything is being categorized as debt, although long-term investments are not debt," criticized the left-wing politician in the interview of the week published on Saturday by Deutschlandfunk (DLF). He is a businessman, said Ramelow. "And as a businessman, I don't understand at all how every monetary expenditure by a state can be categorized as debt." This is not how a company's investment plans are handled.
Ramelow made his comments against the backdrop of the current budget debate in Berlin. Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) had recently announced that he would not take on any more debt for the 2024 budget, especially in view of rising interest rates, but would instead make savings.
The adoption of the 2024 federal budget had been halted following a ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court. Karlsruhe had declared the reallocation of 60 billion euros in the 2021 budget null and void. The money had been approved as a coronavirus loan, but was subsequently to be used for climate protection and the modernization of the economy. At the same time, the judges ruled that the state was not allowed to set aside emergency loans for later years. However, this is exactly what the federal government has done in special pots, for example for the energy price brakes - which is now tearing additional holes in the budget.
Ramelow explained in the DLF interview that he currently sees serious consequences for eastern Germany as a result of the Karlsruhe decision. Several billion euros in investment aid had been earmarked in the special fund for new settlements in eastern Germany. "This is mainly Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony," said Ramelow. However, Thuringia is also indirectly affected, as the technical equipment for these new companies comes from the Free State.
Interview in full (PDF)
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Source: www.stern.de
