BERLIN (Reuters) – The leader of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) Friedrich Merz said the debt brake, which limits public deficit to 0.35% of gross domestic product, can be reformed.
“Of course it can be reformed,” said Merz, who is in pole position to become the next chancellor in the federal election, at an event on Wednesday.
“The question is, why? For what purpose? What is the result of such a reform?”
Merz said that if the result of the reform is more money spent on consumption and welfare policies, he would not be open to reform.
However, if additional borrowing will boost investment and is important for progress, “then the answer may be different,” Merz added.
He noted that the debt brake is a technical issue and he did not want to get into that discussion now.
Within the CDU, the debate about a debt brake reform was reopened this year by Kai Wegner, the conservative mayor of Berlin. Several powerful CDU leaders from other regional governments have joined the push for reform because the states are also constrained by the debt brake.
Pressure is building within the party, with CDU state premiers pushing Merz to include reform plans in the election program in recent party meetings.
(Reporting by Andreas Rinke, writing by Maria Martinez, Editing by Miranda Murray)
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