BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th May, 2020) Germany expects a decrease in budget revenues by 98.6 billion Euros ($106 billion) this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said on Thursday at a press conference on the budget forecast for 2020.
"For the current year, the republic is projected to receive an income of 284.7 billion euros. In total, the republic, Federal states and communities are projected [to make a profit of] more than 700 billion euros. Compared to the fall forecast, when no one could have foreseen the coronavirus pandemic, this is lower by 43.9 billion for the republic and 98.6 billion euros if you count the republic, states and communities," Scholz said.
According to the minister, it is currently difficult to predict revenue and spending, as there is a lot of uncertainty in the situation with the pandemic. At the same time, Scholz noted that thanks to the responsible budget policy of recent years, Germany would be able to cope with the crisis.
In addition, the minister recalled that in June the government was set to agree on a program to support the economic growth, apart from the existing program of direct financial and tax support launched in March.
