The Hessian Minister of Finance, Michael Boddenberg (CDU), looks back "with great pleasure" on last year's budget.

It turns out to be much better than expected, said the Union politician at a press conference in the State Chancellery on Monday.

Because of the Corona crisis, new debts of around 2.8 billion euros were planned.

"But now we can manage without additional loans."

Ewald Hetrodt

Correspondent for the Rhein-Main-Zeitung in Wiesbaden.

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The most important reason is the surprisingly high tax revenue.

They were higher than before the outbreak of the pandemic in spring 2020 and exceeded expectations by almost 2.6 billion euros.

Because Hesse is one of the particularly high-performing federal states, it has to pay into the state financial equalization, as in the past.

41 percent more in the state financial equalization

According to Boddenberg, the amount to be paid increased by 41 percent in Hesse in 2021 compared to the previous year, while the increase in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg was only 16 and nine percent.

The comparison with the neighboring countries shows that the positive development not only has something to do with the overall economic situation in Germany, but also with the successful Hessian politics, said the finance minister.

A city benefits from a special effect.

The fact that the extremely successful company Biontech not only produces its vaccine in Rhineland-Palatinate, but also in Marburg, brought in additional tax revenue of around 400 million euros for the city last year.

The Ministry of Finance, on the other hand, is happy if the country does not end up making a loss in this matter after complicated calculations.

100 million euros in cryptocurrencies

In addition to the taxes, there are originally unestimated revenues of around 600 million euros.

This includes, for example, 100 million euros that were collected by the judiciary in an investigation into cryptocurrencies.

The improvement in revenue totaling 3.2 billion euros is offset by expenses caused by the pandemic.

To deal with the crisis, the black-green coalition government had formed a special fund against sharp protests from the ranks of the opposition.

This should authorize the finance minister to take out loans totaling twelve billion euros by the end of 2023.

As is well known, the Hessian State Court of Justice had declared this procedure to be unconstitutional.

Boddenberg had withdrawn 1.5 billion euros from the special fund last year.

This sum can now be repaid with part of the unexpected income.

More than 700 million euros are also going into reserves.

In addition, money is transferred to what is known as the Hesse old-age savings book, which is required to partially cover future pension obligations.

Despite the burdens caused by the pandemic, Boddenberg noted that for the fifth time in a row it was possible not to incur any new debt.

Overall, the country now has debts of almost 45 billion euros.

Financial strength of Hesse significantly improved

According to the Finance Minister, the budget that has just been passed for the current year is characterized by imponderables.

He mentioned the development of the pandemic and the crisis in Ukraine.

If there were to be economic sanctions, they would probably have repercussions.

The opposition sees the current figures as confirmation of their criticism of the state government's policies.

"As forecast, Hesse's financial strength has not only recovered compared to the pre-crisis level, but has also improved significantly," stated FDP MP Marion Schardt-Sauer.

"Neither was it necessary to take on new debt, nor should the state government have taken the path of its questionable special fund."

Schardt-Sauer also criticized the fact that the state parliament had identified a budgetary emergency for the current year.

This is "superfluous and wrong".

Because the forecasts see a significant improvement.

The AfD criticized the fact that loans were once again planned for the current year that exceeded the permitted level by 771 million euros.

The suspension of the debt brake in November could not be justified, said MP Erich Heidkamp.

The parliamentary group leader of the Left Jan Schalauske said that the coalition must now "invest in the future" instead of putting aside additional income.