Another tough draft budget is being approved by the German cabinet today with the aim of being tabled soon in the German parliament, where major amendments are usually made, with a final vote expected in December.

Liberal Finance Minister Christian Lindner’s plans are in any case reflected in the numbers: the draft includes around 445 billion for government spending, while the new debt target is not to exceed 16.6 billion euros.

A key and long-declared priority of Christian Lindner is to restore compliance with the constitutional rule of the debt brake, in other words the golden rule of balanced budgets that puts a barrier to the continuous creation of new debts, which in previous years had been suspended for financial reasons.

The Ministry of Family is mainly affected

According to the draft budget, in 2024 spending should be strictly prioritized and immediate savings made from cuts in benefits such as the parental allowance intended to cover child-rearing costs for couples with incomes above €150,000 a year. Until recently, this limit amounted to 300,000 euros joint family income. From then on, the “target” of the Ministry of Finance also includes a series of other social benefits that have to do with care or welfare.

Defense and security continue to be at the forefront of the budget for 2024, according to the draft plan, with the Ministry of Defense being excluded from the Lindner cuts plan, which essentially affect “social” ministries, mainly the Ministry of Defense. Family. Beyond that, the sectors that are not expected to be affected by the planned cuts, in addition to defense, stand to lose with digitization, climate protection and the country’s energy supply.

Reactions from the opposition and unions

According to Mr. Christian Democrat/Christian Socialist opposition parliamentary group leader Matthias Middelberg said this kind of savings from the German coalition government is actually about “shifting the burden to the social security funds”.

“A political trajectory driven by cuts is essentially unnecessary, it tends to work at the expense of society and become harmful for the economy,” says Stephan Kertzel from the board of the German Trade Union Federation, characterizing the “debt brake, a brake on the future.” Instead, he is calling for more investment from the unions in public transport, infrastructure and digitalisation. “In China and the US, hundreds of billions are being invested in the future. If Germany slows down growth now, it will be left behind,” he told the German news agency dpa.