The Greens propose a “Germany Investment Fund” financed by loans to federal, state and local governments to trigger an economic revival. “We want to greatly incentivize private investments in future technologies,” says a draft resolution for a parliamentary group meeting in Leipzig, first reported by the newspaper “Spiegel” on Saturday (February 24). The basis of the fund should be a reform of the debt brake established in the Basic Law in order to permanently finance public investments through loans.
The fund should aim to modernize and decarbonize the economy with national production facilities for technologies such as solar, wind, hydrogen or batteries. Investments in the railway network and bicycle traffic will also be financed.
So far there is no information on the specific volume of the fund.
The fund should also provide “sufficient resources” for states and municipalities to partially finance necessary investments in school buildings, buses and trains, affordable apartments or on-site swimming pools and sports fields. No concrete information on the size of the fund is provided in the draft.
Green Party leader Katharina Dröge told the newspaper “Spiegel”: “In their districts and villages, people feel sorry when the bus doesn't run, when there are no affordable apartments or when the school roof leaks.” “an invitation to states and municipalities.” The faction meets from Tuesday to Thursday in Leipzig for a retreat.
The Greens: “Loans are the right economic decision”
“Without a reform of the debt brake we will not be able to finance what is necessary,” says the draft, which is also available to the German Press Agency. “Too little has happened for too many decades. Therefore, the delay in investments is gigantic.”
It is also a question of intergenerational justice, leaving behind a modern, functional and climate-neutral country for children and grandchildren, without postponed burdens or deteriorated infrastructure. “Loans for financing are therefore a sensible political action and an economically correct decision.”