Germany's budget gap “freezes” €8 billion in aid to Ukraine – Reuters

In Germany, the ruling coalition is trying to patch a huge hole in the budget, which has caused the suspension of defense aid for Ukraine next year, totaling 8 billion euros.

This was reported by Reuters.

Today, November 17, Germany's Budget Committee suspended final discussions on the draft budget for 2024 after the Constitutional Court banned the government from transferring 60 billion euros ($65 billion) of unused funds received during the pandemic to environmental initiatives and support for industry.

One of the two sections of the budget that failed to be approved includes a doubling of military aid to Ukraine to 8 billion euros next year.

The German authorities are currently trying to find a solution to the financial problem in order to unblock the process of adopting the state budget and, accordingly, to provide the promised military assistance to the Defense Forces.

"Some of the expenditure planned for the coming year will now have to be cut, which the governing parties are likely to find difficult to agree on," said Commerzbank chief economist Jörg Krämer.

It is also reported that the content of the ministries' budgets was finally agreed upon at the committee meeting.

The government-imposed restrictions on gas and electricity prices, which were supposed to expire at the end of the year, have been extended until March 31, 2024, German news agency dpa reports.

Some other cost allocations in Germany will be discussed in detail next Thursday, after a special meeting on Tuesday.

Author – Anastasiya Glotova, 17/11/2023