Blümel presents “budget response to the Covid crisis”

In his budget speech, the finance minister finds an “indication that the clouds on the crown side are slowly clearing.” But: The deficit is still high at 6.3 percent, the national debt increases to 84 percent.

He has just appeared as the leading candidate for the Vienna ÖVP, campaigned for votes and faced competition in television duels. On Wednesday, however, Gernot Blümel will refocus on his post as finance minister and deliver his budget speech at the National Council, entitled “Together through the crisis – Out of responsibility for jobs and location.” His key data: the deficit remains high at 6.3 percent of economic output, the equivalent of about 21,000 million euros. The expenses should be around 97 billion euros, 76 billion euros will be received.

“Dear taxpayers, you have the budget answer to the Covid crisis in front of you. This answer is expensive, but we can afford it ”. With these words, Blümel began his speech on Wednesday. He praised the “sound budget policy of the government of Chancellor Sebastian Kurz” in recent years and said it was the basis for “saving jobs in the future.” Of course, as minister, you would have expected different framework conditions for the budget, but also for Austria: “The budget is not yet comparable to normal times, but it is an indication that secondary clouds in the crown are slowly clearing.”

The national debt should rise to a record level

“Despite all the drama, now we can plan more than at the beginning of the pandemic,” emphasized Blümel, to follow up on an appeal: “A higher number of infections means higher unemployment,” so it is necessary to reduce the number of infections “to save as many jobs as possible.” He dismissed rumors of another blockade: “There is no planned blockade, that’s a fact.”

He believes in the creativity and discipline of the Austrians and that the Austrians will come out of the crisis together. This requires borrowing, but only temporarily. Because: in the long term, too much intervention by the State is an obstacle, he was convinced, and it caused complaints in the plenary hall.

Blümel was not confused: “If you don’t like that, you can make it known later in your speech,” he told MPs, continuing: The national debt, which has fallen since 2015, is expected to rise from 70.5 to 84 percent of economic production this year. increase, hit 84.8 percent in 2021, hit a new high of 85 percent in 2022, and then decline slightly again. The deficit should be 9.5 percent of economic output this year, 6.3 percent next year and 3.5 percent in 2022.

Stick to tax reform

€ 50 billion is available this year and next to deal with the crown crisis. Much of this, however, is tax liabilities and deferrals, with which the government expects return flows in the billions.

Blümel wants to stick to the second stage of the tax reform announced by the ÖVP and the Greens for 2022, as well as the abolition of “cold progression”. Compared to the budget plan prior to “Corona”, the labor market budget will be increased by 2.7 billion euros. After the 6.8 billion euros this year, another 1.5 billion euros are planned for short-term jobs.

There is also more money for national defense, the department of transport and environment and the Ministry of Education.

In reality, Blümels should have delivered his first budget speech in March. However, the coronavirus got in the way: the prepared figures became a waste. Instead, the finance minister only issued a statement in the time before the meager 2020 budget (including a stumble, forgotten keyword zeros) passed the National Council.

(hell / APA)