German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday promised a new aid package for individuals. This series of measures will aim to support German households in the face of rising energy prices, in particular, which will worsen this autumn.
“We are going to do everything possible so that the citizens overcome these difficult moments,” said the Social Democrat during his first summer press conference, which his predecessor Angela Merkel had made a tradition.
If the plan will affect all strata of the population, it will focus on the most modest households, with tax cuts or housing aid, explained the Chief Executive, in office since December, without going into more detail. He also did not specify the term and cost of the package.
Compliance with budgetary discipline rules
At the same time, it reaffirmed its commitment to respect the constitutional rules of budgetary discipline again in 2023, after three years of exception due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Some voices, particularly within the government-allied Greens and the SPD, have called for an extension of the “debt brake” suspension in the event of a sharp deterioration in the German economy.
Growth remained stable in the second quarter, weighed down by accelerating inflation after the war in Ukraine. This is one of the worst results for the euro zone from April to the end of June.
And the autumn and winter promise to be overwhelming in the main European economies due to the energy crisis “yet to come for the economy”, declared the Minister of the Economy, Robert Habeck.
An increase in energy prices to come
Germans in particular will see their heating and electricity bills soar in the autumn with the government’s decision to allow rising energy prices to be passed on to the final consumer.
The day before, the German Finance Minister, the liberal Christian Lindner, had announced a readjustment of tax thresholds as well as a revaluation of family allowances in relation to inflation. Raising tax thresholds should save €10 billion in 2023 for 48 million taxpayers.
Germany has already launched aid worth 30,000 million euros to relieve people, recalled Olaf Scholz, which includes discounts at pumps or the popular 9-euro ticket, which allows travel on public transport and regional trains for a month. . However, the measure stops at the end of August.
Source: BFM TV
