MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th July, 2023) The German cabinet approved a trimmed-down draft budget for 2024 on Wednesday that includes deep spending cuts for all ministries except defense.
"It signalizes that Germany is committed to durable and sustainable state financing," Finance Minister Christian Lindner told a budget conference in Berlin.
The spending plan includes slashing expenditure from 476.3 billion Euros ($518.5 billion) this year to 445.7 billion euros in 2024. Germany spent 481.3 billion euros last year.
The cabinet also plans to reinstate the constitutionally mandated debt brake, which caps the government deficit at 0.35% of industrial output. The new debt will amount to 16.6 billion euros next year.
Defense spending is projected to rise by 1.7 billion euros to 51.8 billion, while the social sector will see the deepest cuts. One of the most contentious items is the 150,000-euro income threshold for poor families claiming child care benefits.
The draft comes after months of haggling between the three parties making up the German coalition government � the left-leaning Social Democrats, the Greens and Lindner's business-oriented Free Democrats.
