German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD) sees a first success in closing the budget holes. Speaking to the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland” he said ministries are meeting his directive to cut one percent of their budgets. “We’re reaching the target, but the five billion euros that are coming together do not help us close the huge holes in the budget” he said. “This has been only a warm‑up exercise. Now we move on to the major reforms”. At the federal level, a shortfall of about 130 billion euros is expected for the years 2027 to 2029.
Politics
