Budget crisis - Rhein calls for the debt brake to be retained
Hesse's Minister President Boris Rhein (CDU) is campaigning for the debt brake to be retained. "From a Hessian perspective, the debt brake is not folklore, but an expression of intergenerational justice," Rhein told the German Press Agency in Wiesbaden. The requirement for the federal and state governments not to balance their budget deficits by taking out loans is an achievement under constitutional law.
"That's why, in my view, we should neither abolish the debt brake nor should we tighten it. We should simply adhere to it," Rhein emphasized. In emergencies, it has proven to be a flexible instrument.
"I am prepared to discuss this as soon as a situation arises in which we are literally in an emergency situation and in which we cannot cope with the current instruments," explained Rhein. He does not see this happening at the moment.
In the current budget debate, the federal government must formulate its priorities, demanded the Hessian head of government. After all, the coalition government had caused one or two difficult situations itself, for example with the introduction of the citizen's income and its twelve percent increase on January 1. "That costs a lot of money," warned Rhein.
The increase in the citizen's income has enormous consequences for the federal states, he explained with regard to a ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court, which stipulates a distance requirement between the basic income and the lowest civil servant salary. "As a result, we have started to repair the salaries of civil servants, with an increase of three percent in each of the first two steps," explained Rhein.
This amounts to around 540 million euros per year in the state budget in the long term. "And these are only the first steps towards repairing the salaries of civil servants," said Rhein. This sum is really noticeable in the Hessian budget of 35 billion euros. "Every increase in the citizens' allowance has corresponding consequences", he explained.
As a result of the Constitutional Court's budget ruling, Rhein also fears new discussions about co-financing between the federal and state governments, for example in agricultural funding. But: "Only when the traffic light can really say precisely what it is planning, what it wants and where the journey is heading will it be possible to answer the crucial question for Hesse: What financial consequences will the ruling have for our budget?" Hesse is not directly affected by the ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court, as the state no longer has any special funds of its own.
The Karlsruhe court had declared the transfer of coronavirus billions to the Climate and Transformation Fund - a special fund of the federal government - in the 2021 supplementary budget to be inadmissible. This means that the fund lacks 60 billion euros in loans.
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- Boris Rhein, the Minister President of Hesse, advocates for retaining the debt brake, stating that it symbolizes intergenerational justice from a Hessian perspective.
- According to Rhein, the debt brake, which prevents governments from balancing budget deficits through loans, is a crucial achievement under constitutional law.
- The Federal Constitutional Court in Wiesbaden, where Rhein made his comments, has upheld the requirement for restraint in balancing budget deficits.
- The current budget crisis necessitates prioritization from the federal government, according to Rhein, who has expressed concerns about the financial impact of the increased citizen's income.
- As a direct result of a ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court, civil servant salaries in Hesse have required repairs, with an expected annual cost of around 540 million euros in the state budget.
- Boris Rhein, the CDU leader in Hesse, believes that the constitutional court's ruling on budgetary matters could lead to new discussions on co-financing between the federal and state governments.
Source: www.stern.de
