Saxony-Anhalt: Alarming interest payments burden future generations!

Saxony-Anhalt: Alarming interest payments burden future generations!

In Saxony-Anhalt, the debt burden is constantly growing and brings with it serious financial challenges for the state. The current debt level is an impressive 22.7 billion euros, and interest payments will be no less high next year. For 2023, around 365 million euros are calculated for interest, which represents a decrease compared to the 399.9 million euros of the previous year. These figures are alarming and cause divided opinions, not least because the State Audit Office urgently warns about the consequences of significant over-indebtedness. The President of the Court of Auditors, Kay Barthel, expresses concerns about possible budget restructuring and emphasizes that loan-financed investments should be repaid within appropriate periods of time in order not to burden future generations. After all, new debt of 1.13 billion euros is planned for 2023, of which 552 million euros are earmarked as Corona special funds. stern.de reports that ...

But that's not enough! The State Audit Office sharply criticized the budget for 2022 in its 2023 annual report. The problem of maintaining state roads cannot be overlooked. There is an investment backlog piling up here, with expenditure in 2022 amounting to only 1.71 billion euros, although 2.4 billion euros were earmarked. And in 2023 the plan isn't much better: only 1.8 billion euros of 2.14 billion euros will be spent. A clear indication that the financing framework is far from sufficient. Behoerden-Spiegel reports from…

Criticism of the debt brake

In recent years, Saxony-Anhalt has often circumvented the debt brake, which has had a very negative impact on state finances. Since 2020, an emergency has been declared every year, allowing the country to take out new loans and further increase the debt burden. Unfortunately, this course leads to the erosion of the debt brake, as expenditure is increasingly shifted to shadow budgets.

In the current context, the per capita debt in the country is shockingly high at 10,491 euros, especially compared to its neighbor Saxony, where the per capita debt is only 3,193 euros. This highlights Saxony-Anhalt's financial difficulties, especially when one considers that EU funds are not being used to the extent that they could be. This results in an increased investment backlog in infrastructure, meaning that urgently needed projects fall by the wayside and force the country further into a precarious situation.