Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) – Despite the appeals for moderation by Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann and Finance Minister Danyal Bayaz (both Green), the departments have applied for significant additional spending. Although only 890 million euros will be available for additional expenditure in the planned double budget for 2023/2024, the ministers of the Greens and CDU have reported needs of over 7.6 billion euros, government circles in Stuttgart said on Monday. “Stuttgarter Zeitung” and “Südwest Presse” had previously reported on it. The government’s budget committee wants to decide in just over a week what additional money should be spent on.
There should be great disappointment in many ministries. Because Bayaz recently explained that the Greens and CDU have little money to implement the goals of the coalition agreement due to the consequences of the Ukraine war and the corona pandemic. The minister fears that tax revenues could collapse, mainly because of the energy crisis in the autumn. In addition, a large part of the remaining money is tied up in caring for the refugees from Ukraine. Kretschmann recently said that otherwise climate protection and education would have priority.
The key points for the budget stipulate that the ministries themselves must save a total of 600 million euros so that there can be a corridor for additional spending elsewhere. According to “Südwest Presse”, however, the additional requirements of the Minister of the Interior and Digitization and Deputy Prime Minister Thomas Strobl (CDU) alone exceed the entire scope of 890 million euros. The list of Health Minister Manfred Lucha (Greens), who is responsible for corona management, is said to total more than 850 million euros.
