ÖVP Chairman Karl Nehammer presented his ‘Austria plan’ on Friday with particular enthusiasm and in the style of a federal army officer. Now the chairman of the Budget Council, Christoph Badelt, has added his two cents – and expressed his concerns.
The 80 pages of Nehammer’s pompously announced plan promise tax relief, increased ownership and “performance must be worth it.” Are they too good to be true?
Budget Council President Christoph Badelt would probably answer this with a cautious “maybe” – because he lacks counter-financing measures. Badelt seemed depressed in the Ö1 “Mittagsjournal” that the suggestions that the ÖVP boss put forward in his speech on Friday, such as reducing additional wage costs and tax rates, were not offset by austerity measures.
“As head of the Budget Council, this concerns me.” The same also applies to the plans of other parties such as the SPÖ and FPÖ. These would also result in huge additional expenditure or lower revenues for the budget. “As someone who keeps an eye on the state’s finances, I wonder: how is this supposed to work?” said Badelt. He doesn’t say it’s impossible, it just needs to be explained.
Already a big hole in the budget
Austria already records a budget deficit of 2.7 percent of GDP. The cabinet’s plans well into the next legislature would provide for a similar minus, according to Badelt. And these figures alone had him worried: if additional expenses or lower revenues were planned, this would become a problem. The economist said the most important thing is to keep government budgets in balance. Without a description of the counter-financing, proposals for emergency aid would “float in empty space”.
Badelt did not object to a reduction in indirect labor costs on Saturday. The costs for labor are too high, but it is about the tax structure and counter financing. He would have liked ‘more courage’ from the ÖVP in the pension sector. There is nothing in the Austrian plan about sustainable pension reform – even though pension expenditure would be more than fifty times higher than social security.
Babler warns again against a blue-black coalition
SPÖ leader Andreas Babler warned again in the Ö1 “Journal as Guest” about a blue-black coalition after the National Council elections. This was also noticeable in Nehammer’s speech on Friday. “We saw yesterday that the ÖVP, judging by the program titles and also the tone, had almost submitted a marriage proposal to the FPÖ as a junior partner.”
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
