A German minister of state, Hendrik Wüst of the CDU, has called for a future federal government to exhaust all potential cost savings before considering a reform of the debt brake.
According to Wüst, an interview with the “Rheinische Post” was published in the Tuesday edition, the debt brake ensures financial intergenerational fairness and sustainability. The most significant contribution to better financing of state tasks is economic growth, he stated.
Wüst referred to the fact that there is a debt brake, not a debt ban and emphasized that the new federal government should first set priorities and scrutinize the budget for potential cost savings. This should also include identifying unnecessary cost drivers at the state and municipal level, which are caused by the federal government and then assessing what is possible within the existing debt brake framework before considering a reform.
When asked if he was willing to write the debt brake into the state constitution, he replied that it is already enshrined in the state budget law, which provides for clear bindingness.