"Traffic light" wants to justify suspension of the debt brake with energy prices
The traffic light government wants to justify the renewed suspension of the debt brake this year in particular with the high energy prices. However, it is also possible that other aspects such as the flood disaster in the Ahr valley could play a role, said government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit. He referred to the cabinet's decision on the supplementary budget for 2023, which is scheduled for this afternoon, for details.
The Federal Constitutional Court had declared the massive increase in the Climate and Transformation Fund (KTF) with unused loans from the coronavirus pandemic to be inadmissible. Other special funds such as the Economic Stabilization Fund (WSF), from which the energy price brakes are paid, must now also be placed on a different legal basis. This is why the supplementary budget for 2023 is necessary, for which the debt brake is to be suspended for the fourth year in a row.
Hebestreit pointed out that the massive rise in energy prices had already been the reason for declaring an emergency to suspend the debt brake last year. 2023 had not yet taken place because the funds approved in 2022 for the energy price brakes from the WSF had been available. However, the Constitutional Court has now made it clear that loans for such measures must always be approved in the year in which they are used.
The traffic light government is proposing the renewed suspension of the debt brake in the supplementary budget for 2023, citing the impact of soaring energy prices. The justification for the suspension could also potentially involve the aftermath of the flood disaster in the Ahr valley, as mentioned by government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit.
The fourth consecutive year of suspending the debt brake is necessary due to the urgent need for a supplementary budget, stemming from the court's ruling on the legal basis of special funds like the Economic Stabilization Fund (WSF), which funds energy price brakes.
Source: www.ntv.de
