BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr sees no chance of solving the billion-dollar problem in the 2024 federal budget by declaring an emergency situation and thus suspending the debt brake. There are hurdles for such an emergency situation, said the FDP politician on Tuesday in Berlin. “It’s not something you can wish for politically, talk about or decide on, but it has legal requirements. And I don’t see these legal requirements at the moment.”
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) and Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) have been in three-way talks for days looking for a solution to how a 17 billion hole in the 2024 budget can be closed following a budget ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court. On Tuesday, Dürr and the other traffic light parliamentary group leaders also took part in the negotiations. Scholz expressed confidence on Monday that this would be completed soon.
The FDP politician Dürr said it would not be a problem to pass the budget until next year. This happens regularly every year with a federal election. “That’s why I’m not setting any deadlines now. What’s more important to me is the real structural result, namely that there is consolidation in this budget.” Compliance with the debt brake is one thing. “Much more important, I think, is a further reduction in the debt ratio so that we are stable.”/sk/DP/ngu