New German finance minister does not plan 2024 budget freeze

By Maria Martinez

BERLIN (Reuters) -New German Finance Minister Joerg Kukies said on Tuesday that he is not planning a budget freeze for this year as a result of the country’s three-way coalition falling apart.

As things stand, he said in Berlin, the government would be able to get through the year just fine.

He said there would be a provisional budget for next year as it was unrealistic that the Bundestag lower house of parliament will pass one before the new election in March.

“The world will not come to an end,” he said.

He said it was too early to say whether a supplementary budget would be needed for 2024 as funds no longer required to subsidize Intel (NASDAQ:INTC)’s new chip-making plants could be used to cover shortages.

The new finance minister said the German government would continue with its focus on privatisation after stabilisation, adding that the government would stick to plans on the re-privatisation of the energy company Uniper, which was rescued during the energy crisis after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

He criticised Italian bank UniCredit’s possible takeover of German state-backed lender Commerzbank (ETR:CBKG).

“Taking an aggressive stake in a systematically relevant bank such as Commerzbank, using unfriendly methods and without co-operation, is not an appropriate approach,” Kukies said. “Hostile takeovers are not what we need for stable banks in Europe and in Germany.”