The price hikes and energy costs “hit” another constant in Germany: savings. At the same time, there are increasing calls for greater support for students and pensioners.
THE high inflation in Germany, which already reaches 7.5%, and the energy crisis seem to be obstacles for Germans to save. According to data from German banks and savings banks in the newspaper Welt am Sonntag, German depositors currently do not have the opportunity to put money aside, since the increased inflation negatively affects their purchasing power.
Indeed, many Germans actually rely on the savings they managed to make during the pandemic, thanks to the then necessarily reduced consumption due to the extraordinary circumstances.
According to Helmut Schleweis, head of the Association of German Savings Banks, due to the significant revaluations in many products, it is expected that up to 60% of German households should use the entire monthly income this year to cover basic living expenses. Indicative of the situation is that according to the barometer of the German Sparkasse a year ago only 15% of depositors in Germany were unable to put money aside.
Pressure for additional support for low-income pensioners and students
At the same time, the winter is predicted to be severe, especially for students and low-income pensioners in Germany. So Hendrich Wüst, the Christian Democratic Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous German state, is asking through Bild am Sonntag for additional targeted support measures for these two categories in the German government’s next relief package.
And the Social Democrat Prime Minister of Lower Saxony, Stefan Weil, is asking for additional one-off benefits for low-income pensioners. Both the proposals of the two local prime ministers seem to be rejected for the time being by the Liberal Finance Minister Christian Lindner, arguing that pensions in particular have already increased.
For its part, the Left Party is in favor of more extensive winter relief for German households with a lump sum 1,500 euros for each household, plus 600 euros for each additional member thereof. This is what Nittmar Bartz, head of K.O., said in an interview with the Rheinische Post. of the Left in the German parliament. Barts estimates that such a measure could relieve mainly students and low-income pensioners, who will not be able to bear the burden of the additional burdens. “These two social groups are completely forgotten,” he says, criticizing the coalition government and the support measures it has taken ahead of the winter.
Read the News today and get the latest news. Follow us on Google News and be the first to learn all the news from Skai.gr.
