German cabinet due to agree 2026 draft budget in July, says finance minister

By Maria Martinez

BERLIN, May 14 (Reuters) - Germany's draft budget for 2026 should be approved by the cabinet in July and discussions on it should start in parliament in September, Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said on Wednesday.

The budget for 2025 should also be discussed in parliament after the summer break. To comply with this goal, the minister aims to have a draft budget ready in June which could be approved by the cabinet on June 25.

After former Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition collapsed in November, there was no time to pass the 2025 budget. Therefore Germany has had a provisional budget since the start of the year.

Klingbeil added that he wants to set up an expert commission on reforming the debt brake as soon as possible. A reform has been promised by the end of 2025.

The government included in its coalition agreement the establishment of an expert commission with the participation of the lower house of parliament and federal states to develop a proposal for modernising the debt brake, which restricts public borrowing to 0.35% of gross domestic product.

The government is also finishing the law for a 500 billion euros investment fund in infrastructure, Klingbeil said, which was approved by Germany's parliament in March as part of a massive spending surge.