The Federal Audit Office is concerned about the development of Germany’s state finances and warns the next federal government of overpromising and new spending plans. According to the “Bild” (Monday edition) citing a new audit report by Federal Audit Office President Kay Scheller for the German Bundestag’s Budget Committee.
Scheller warns, “the serious state of the federal finances will pose extraordinary challenges for a new federal government. Structural shortcomings of the past, which will continue to worsen, will meet new problem situations.”
Specifically, Scheller criticized the lack of long-term concepts for sustainably financing social systems. Scheller described the federal budget as “fossilized” because most expenditures are statutorily prescribed. The next federal government will thus have “little room for maneuver, and there are no convincing concepts for financing important future topics such as defense and climate protection” quotes “Bild” from the 208-page audit report (“Comments 2024 on the Federal Budget and Economic Management”).
The debt has grown “enormously” in recent years, criticized Scheller. At the same time, interest rates have risen. “This situation will worsen even more by 2028. From then on, the federal government must repay its crisis loans. The fiscal room for projects of future parliaments and governments will thus be even smaller” summarizes Scheller.