Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has spoken out in favor of further relief for low earners in view of the high gas prices. “We haven’t experienced that before, four times higher prices, not only at the gas stations, but above all for the gas that is needed to run the heating at home,” said Steinmeier in the ZDF summer interview broadcast on Sunday. “The same applies to industry.”
Steinmeier went on to say that the packages that have been available so far have been good and necessary. “But you will (…) have to think about instruments, how to make life easier for those on low wages in particular.”
Not everyone benefits in the same way from the relief packages. In this respect, they could only be a kind of intermediate status.
The Federal President is confident that the Federal Government will also “continue to take care of it”. She must ensure “that those who are at the bottom of the social scale and urgently need help are not lost sight of, but that they are helped to pay for their apartment and heating”.
Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) had warned of a possible “price explosion” at some municipal utilities at an event organized by “Zeit” on Saturday evening. According to Habeck, this can happen if Russia no longer supplies gas via the Nord Stream 1 Baltic Sea pipeline and the federal government allows large suppliers to pass on the prices to their customers, such as municipal utilities.
