The Bundestag has again approved an exception to the debt brake to finance the planned gas and electricity price brakes.
In doing so, he enabled the federal government to take out additional loans of 200 billion euros on Friday. Such a decision is only possible in exceptional emergency situations.
The debt brake is enshrined in the Basic Law and stipulates that the federal budget should be able to manage without major loans. However, there is a small margin of 0.35 percent of economic output. In bad economic times, a little more debt can be incurred. But even this sum will probably not be enough for the energy price brakes planned by the federal government.
Since the beginning of the Corona crisis in 2019, Parliament has repeatedly allowed large loans. Initially it was about Corona aid for companies and citizens, but now it is about the consequences of the Russian attack on Ukraine with exploding energy prices and high inflation.
