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Boris Rhein: First of all, use the opportunities that the debt brake offers

Photo: Arne Dedert/dpa

In the 2024 budget, the government wants to comply with the debt brake - and make extensive savings to do so.

However, the political dispute over the instrument continues.

With Hesse's Prime Minister Boris Rhein, a leading CDU politician has now shown himself open to a discussion about reforming the budget rule anchored in the Basic Law.

The debt brake works “basically well” and he also advocates “first using the opportunities that the debt brake already offers,” the head of government told the “Tagesspiegel”.

But Rhein also said: “There are clever proposals for reforming the debt brake on the table, especially from the Council of Experts, which must be taken very seriously.

I’m ready to talk about it.”

Scholz believes reform is unrealistic

The Council of Experts, whose members are also called economics, had recently harshly criticized the debt brake.

It is too rigid and strict and creates an unnecessarily large amount of pressure to save money.

It's about creating scope for public investments in the future.

The economists therefore proposed three reform approaches.

A transitional rule could be introduced for the period after an emergency with high borrowings.

The debt limit could also be made more flexible and higher.

An economic correction could also be considered: if the economy weakens, higher loans would be possible.

However, Chancellor Olaf Scholz currently does not see a majority in favor of a necessary constitutional change.

“We should therefore use the opportunities for action that we now have,” the SPD politician explained on Tuesday in Emmendingen.

Because of the debt brake anchored in the Basic Law, the federal government is only allowed to take out loans to a limited extent.

The Social Democrats and the Greens want to change the rules, the FDP is sticking to them.

Since the Federal Constitutional Court's budget ruling, changes to the debt brake have been discussed again and again.

Instead of reform, there has recently been increasing talk of circumventing the debt brake through “special funds” that are also anchored in the constitution.

In the current year, the federal budget plans to spend 476.8 billion euros.

After years of exceptions, the debt brake should initially be adhered to again.

apr/dpa