The left parliamentary group has criticized Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) because he spoke out in favor of more overtime by Germans in the economically tense situation.
“German stock corporations are paying out a total of 70 billion euros in dividends this year, more than ever before. And Christian Lindner is calling for more overtime to stabilize the economy,” said Jan Korte, Parliamentary Secretary of the Left parliamentary group in the Bundestag, on Friday in Berlin. “Perhaps his coalition partners, the SPD and the Greens, should remind him that the people, not the corporations, voted for them.”
Lindner had previously rejected the demand from his counterpart in Baden-Württemberg, Danyal Bayaz (Greens), for “war solos”. The FDP chairman warned that massive tax increases such as “war solos” could strangle economic development.
“We need more growth impetus, more start-ups, more overtime to ensure our prosperity. Tax increases would sabotage the strengthening of the economic situation,” he told the German Press Agency in Berlin.
“We are in a fragile situation. On the one hand, people fear that inflation will not be able to pay for their lives. On the other hand, an economic crash must be prevented,” Lindner continued.
Compliance with the debt brake is an important contribution to combating inflation. “The interest rates, which are also rising sharply for Baden-Württemberg, should prompt my esteemed colleague not to recommend any new debt to the federal government,” said the FDP chairman.
