BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany needs to be decisive in consolidating its public finances and to set clear spending priorities, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said on Tuesday.
“The state can’t continue to spend more money than taxpayers provide,” he said at a press conference after the 27th meeting of the Stability Council on federal and state budgets.
Germany expects to post a deficit of 4.25% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023 due to the extraordinary measures taken by the government in response to the energy crisis, according to finance ministry calculations published last week.
Overall, the deficit is projected to gradually decrease to about 0.75% of GDP by 2026.
“Sound public finances are a prerequisite for economic growth to be possible,” Lindner said, adding that this was a requirement on the European as well as national level.
The German minister reiterated that the European Commission’s proposal to reform EU fiscal rules falls short of German requirements and needs significant adjustments.
(Reporting by Maria Martinez; Editing by Madeline Chambers)
