Radebeul (dpa/sn) – Saxony’s government went on a two-day budget retreat in Radebeul on Tuesday. Results are to be presented on Wednesday afternoon. Until then, a tough struggle between the individual departments and Finance Minister Hartmut Vorjohann (CDU) is expected. In several interviews, he had recently turned down requests from the ministries worth billions. Additional expenditure in the new double budget of around eight billion euros and 6700 additional jobs are not possible.
Vorjohann announced that individual ministries would not submit a cross-off list. For the years 2023 and 2024, he himself expects income and expenses to remain at the previous level – i.e. around 22 billion euros per year. Demanding more spending than before is absurd given the current economic situation and the expected loss of tax revenue, he said.
According to the latest tax estimate, Saxony can expect revenues of 18.5 billion and 19.1 billion euros respectively for the next two years. According to Vorjohann, however, this only provides a little “marching relief”. The additional claims remained unaffordable in the order of magnitude. “The fact remains: We can only spend what we earn. Anyone who promises otherwise is burdening future generations financially.”
