Germany pushes ahead with budget preparations, savings encouraged, document shows
FILE PHOTO: Flags flutter outside the Reichstag building, the seat of the German parliament, the Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany May 6, 2025. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch/File Photo
BERLIN - Germany's new finance minister has started intensive preparations for the 2025 and 2026 budgets, with savings necessary despite the fiscal room created by an infrastructure fund, according to a document seen by Reuters on Monday.
According to the document, the draft budget for 2025 will be approved by cabinet on June 25, the first discussion in parliament will take place in July and the budget committee will finalise the details in September, when it should also be approved by lawmakers.
In parallel, the first draft of the 2026 budget should be approved on July 30. It is to be discussed in parliament in September, then approved in the lower house of parliament in November and the upper house in December, following the usual schedule.
"As finance minister, I will push for every ministry to come up with savings," Lars Klingbeil told Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland on Sunday.
After former chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition collapsed in November, the government ran out of time to pass the 2025 budget. Germany has had a provisional budget since the start of the year.
Germany approved in March plans for a massive spending surge, including a 500-billion euro ($568.10 billion) fund for infrastructure and exemptions from debt rules for defence spending.
Even with this, "leaning back ... is not an option," Klingbeil said. REUTERS
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