State Court of Auditors warns of budget imbalance
The State Court of Auditors has warned of an imminent imbalance in the Berlin budget. It is critical not least of the plans of the black-red coalition to use up reserves of 2.5 billion euros in the current year and 4.6 billion euros in 2024/2025, according to the 2023 annual report, which the Court of Audit presented to Parliament President Cornelia Seibeld (CDU) on Thursday morning.
The state's financial reserves are therefore likely to be exhausted in the near future. Furthermore, it is to be expected that expenditure will permanently exceed income in the future, according to the Court of Audit. It is therefore urgently necessary to limit the growth in expenditure.
The experts are also extremely critical of the special fund for financing climate protection measures. The recent ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court has strengthened the instrument of the debt brake. The Court of Audit argues that an emergency situation must be justified for the respective financial year and a causal link between the emergency and the planned measures must be demonstrated. A special fund of five billion euros for several financial years does not meet these requirements.
Given the budget imbalance warning, the Senate should consider reevaluating its household finances, particularly its reliance on budget reserves. The ongoing debate in the Senate regarding taxes could also be an opportunity to explore alternative sources of revenue to prevent permanent expenditure exceeding income.
Source: www.dpa.com
