The German government on Monday approved 60 billion euros ($68 billion) in funding to be used for combating climate change and modernizing the country, a move that the new finance minister described as a “booster” for Europe’s biggest economy.
The supplementary budget approved by Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Cabinet entails putting the money into a government fund that is being redesigned as a “climate and transformation fund.” It will be used to finance projects aimed at fighting climate change and improving Germany’s infrastructure.
Finance Minister Christian Lindner said in a statement that “60 billion euros for investments in the future are a booster for the economy,” which is still recovering from the coronavirus pandemic.
SCHOLZ SUCCEEDS MERKEL AS GERMAN CHANCELLOR, OPENING NEW ERA
German Finance Minister Christian Lindner addresses the media during a press conference after a meeting of the stability council in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Dec. 10, 2021.
(AP Photo/Michael Sohn, File)
Lindner said new borrowing this year will remain at the 240.2 billion euros the previous government already planned.
“No new debt is being taken on … we are only using so-far unused credit authorization” to run up the extra funding, he told reporters.
German Finance Minister Christian Lindner drinks water before he addresses the media during a press conference after a meeting of the stability council in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Dec. 10, 2021.
(AP Photo/Michael Sohn, File))
Lindner and his pro-business Free Democrats, the smallest of three parties in the center-left Scholz’s coalition, have ruled out tax hikes and insist on continuing to observe rules that limit new debt in the future. Those have been suspended during the pandemic.
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At the same time, the coalition has ambitious plans to ramp up the use of renewable energy and invest in modernizing digital and other infrastructure in Germany.
