Blümel Presents Budget With EUR 21 Billion Deficit

PeoplePoliticians ♦ Published: October 14, 2020; 17:35 ♦ (Vindobona)

Austria's Finance Minister Blümel presented the budget draft for 2021 to the National Council. Due to Covid-19, a deficit of over 20% is planned to provide enough aid for the struggling economy and job market in Austria. While the Federal Ministers show signs of relief with regard to the major budget increase, the opposition parties are furious.

Finance Minister Blümel presented the budget draft for 2021 which includes a massive deficit due to Covid-19 measures. / Picture: © BMF - Federal Ministry of Finance - Bundesministerium für Finanzen / Andy Wenzel / Flickr Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

As a "response to the crisis in figures", Gernot Blümel today presented the draft budget for 2021 to the National Council, which envisages a deficit of EUR 21 billion or 6.3% of GDP and a public debt ratio of 85% for the next two years.

He said it was important to focus on saving jobs and companies, but also to set the course for the location beyond the crisis.

The Minister of Finance named security, the Armed Forces, education, climate protection, justice and mobility as key areas.

For Blümel, it is clear that higher government spending can only help stabilize the economy in the short term, but in the longer term there is no way around reducing government debt. …