Germany will invest 200,000 million euros in lowering energy prices for consumers, according to an agreement by the coalition government of social democrats, green Y liberals and which was announced by the German chancellor, Olaf scholz.
Scholz advanced a package of measures, financed with credits, among which he highlighted the electricity price capwhich his cabinet is preparing, and the stop the price of gasfor the preparation of which a commission has been created that will present proposals shortly.
“Prices must come down. For them to do so, we will open a large protection umbrella for the ones retireesthe employeesthe familiesthe villager and the city, so that everyone gets ahead and can pay their bills,” he said.
The foreign minister also added that the decision makes superfluous the new gas rate that was to be implemented as of October 1 to make up for the losses of companies in the sector, since they will now receive direct aid through the new fund.
[Alemania podría nacionalizar la principal compañía de gas del país, Uniper, mientras empeora la crisis energética]
“A Necessary Step”
“It’s a dramatic step, but a necessary one,” said Scholz, at a press conference in Berlin, in which he was accompanied by the Ministers of Economy and Finance, the green Robert Habeck and the liberal Christian Lindnerrespectively.
To finance the new “umbrella” that includes the imposition of caps on the price of electricity and gas, the Economic Stabilization Fund created during the pandemic will be used.
It will be provided with the aforementioned 200 billion euros that can be used until 2024, said Finance Minister Lindner, who recalled that 600,000 million were invested through this mechanism to deal with the losses caused by the coronavirus.
“This umbrella is comprehensive and effective,” said Lindner, who stressed that the measure will not affect the validity of the debt brake from next year and that it is designed to protect the economy “without fueling inflation.”
“Explicitly, we do not follow the path of Great Brittany with its expansionary monetary policy,” he said, referring to the Bank of England’s latest decisions.
For his part, Economy Minister Habeck defended the withdrawal of the controversial gas rate, which would have increased the price for the final consumer by 2.4 cents per kilowatt hour.
He indicated that it had been approved due to the need to maintain the gas purchasing capacity of the three main importers, the now nationalized Uniper, Sefe (the old one Gazprom Slang) Y VNG.
[Alemania dice que el Nord Stream queda inutilizado para siempre: “La corrosión es irreversible”]
However, there is now a better way, which involves the capitalization of the affected companies through the Stabilization Fund.
However, he explained that the gas VAT reduction from 19% to 7%, introduced to offset the impact of the aforementioned rate, will be maintained as a “relief” measure for consumers.
Habeck, who has the rank of deputy chancellor, also reiterated his call for energy savings, since gas consumption has not been reduced as much as necessary and the situation, despite the measures taken by the Government after the cut in supply of Russian gas, remains “critical”.
