German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz emphasized today that the government ” can fulfill the tasks that we’re tackling without new debt”. The comments came after Reuters reported last week that the finance ministry was considering issuance of new debt. Scholz noted policies could be implemented by abolishing an income tax surcharge for most employees, etc.
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert also said “the chancellor has never left any doubt … that she stands by the principle of a balanced budget.” And, “we have a policy that is not being called into question that we had balanced budgets in recent years and we continue to strive for those.”
