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 (Reuters) - 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.
($1 = 0.8874 euros)
(Reporting by Christian Kraemer and Maria Martinez, Editing by Rachel More)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
US strikes may have set back Iran nuclear program only months, sources say
Satellite image over Fordow, before the U.S. struck the underground nuclear facility, near Qom, Iran, June 2, 2025. 2025 Planet Labs PBC via REUTERS/File Photo WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A preliminary U.S. intelligence assessment has determined that U.S. strikes over the weekend on Iranian nuclear facilities have set back Tehran's program by only a matter of months, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The initial report was prepared by the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon's main intelligence arm and one of 18 U.S. intelligence agencies, said two of the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss classified matters. The classified assessment is at odds with the statements of President Donald Trump and high-ranking U.S. officials - including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. They have said the weekend strikes, which used a combination of bunker-busting bombs and more conventional weapons, essentially eliminated Iran's nuclear program. Trump has said the attacks were necessary to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. Iran denies it is seeking such a weapon and says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. Hegseth on Sunday said that the strikes had "obliterated" Iran's nuclear ambitions, while Trump said Iran's crucial nuclear sites had been "completely and fully obliterated." Assessing the damage at the Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz nuclear sites is expected to be a difficult task, and the DIA is not the only agency tasked with the job. One source said the assessment was not universally accepted and had generated significant disagreement. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the U.S. did not know the extent of the damage yet. Still, the initial assessment indicated the strikes may not have been nearly as successful as the Trump administration has claimed. One of the sources said Iran's enriched uranium stocks had not been eliminated, and in fact the country's nuclear program may have been set back only a month or two. The Pentagon disputed the notion that the damage to Iran's nuclear program was minor, though it did not dispute that the DIA assessment exists. "Based on everything we have seen — and I've seen it all — our bombing campaign obliterated Iran's ability to create nuclear weapons," Hegseth said in a statement provided to Reuters. "Our massive bombs hit exactly the right spot at each target—and worked perfectly. The impact of those bombs is buried under a mountain of rubble in Iran; so anyone who says the bombs were not devastating is just trying to undermine the President and the successful mission." The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But in a statement to CNN, which first reported the intelligence assessment, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the conclusion was incorrect. "This alleged assessment is flat-out wrong," Leavitt said, according to CNN. "Everyone knows what happens when you drop fourteen 30,000 pound bombs perfectly on their targets: total obliteration." Initial military assessments can change as more information comes to light and it is not uncommon for opinions to vary across different U.S. intelligence agencies. Democrats have previously said Trump's claims that the weekend strikes eliminated or seriously set back Iran's nuclear program were not yet backed by evidence. "There's zero evidence that I've seen that the nuclear program was completely and totally obliterated as Donald Trump has claimed," House of Representatives Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on Monday. Classified briefings on the matter for members of the House of Representatives and Senate were canceled on Tuesday. (Reporting by Jonathan Landay and Idrees Ali in Washington and Gram Slattery in The Hague; Additional reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Don Durfee and Cynthia Osterman)
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Russian air defences destroy dozens of Ukrainian drones, officials say
(Reuters) -Russian air defence units destroyed dozens of Ukrainian drones over widely separated regions of Russia on Tuesday, including more than 40 over Voronezh region on the Ukrainian border, officials said. Voronezh regional Governor Alexander Gusev, writing on Telegram, said there were no injuries and more than 40 drones were destroyed over urban areas and near the border. The governor of Ulyanovsk region on the Volga River said eight drones had been repelled without any casualties. Russia's Defence Ministry said 22 drones had been destroyed over nearly four hours. It noted 13 drones downed over Voronezh and others over Saratov and Samara regions and Tatarstan, all along the Volga, as well as in Belgorod Region on the Ukrainian border. Reuters could not independently verify the attacks. Ukraine has beefed up its capacity of drone construction and strikes since the start of the 40-month-old war against Russia. In an attack earlier this month, dubbed "Operation Spider's Web", it targeted Russian long-range bombers at air bases. Russia has intensified its drone and missile strikes on Ukrainian cities in recent months. A missile attack on Tuesday in southeastern Ukraine killed at least 17 people. (Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
U.S. sanctions an alleged leader of Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua
(Reuters) -The U.S. Treasury Department said on Tuesday it has sanctioned Giovanni Vicente Mosquera Serrano, an alleged leader of Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua, who is already on the Federal Bureau of Investigation's most-wanted list. Mosquera has been indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice with drug trafficking and terrorism-related criminal activity, the statement from the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said, while the State Department is offering up to $3 million for information leading to his arrest or conviction. U.S. President Donald Trump has claimed Tren de Aragua is coordinating its U.S. activities with the Venezuelan government of President Nicolas Maduro, and used the supposed connection to justify deportations of alleged members to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador. At least one top U.S. official has acknowledged Maduro's government may not specifically direct the gang. (Reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb)
