Klingbeil's construction sites - between austerity and relief

It's a short break from the International Monetary Fund meeting in Thailand when Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil walks through the old town of Bangkok and looks at colorful historic alleys. The problems in Berlin seem far away for a moment: the dispute in the coalition over how to deal with Bärbel Bas. The pressure on her successor, the new Labor Minister Alexander Schweitzer, to quickly implement a pension reform. The ongoing debates about higher taxes on sugar, tobacco or plastic items also seem to be briefly absent.

These are sentences he can already speak in his sleep when it comes to reforms. When asked locally, he is happy to repeat that he is optimistic that the coalition will get the pension reform done quickly. But when exactly something might come remains unclear.

Higher growth - but supported by debt

Even if the reform debates seem far away, he will be confronted with a problem at the IMF meeting: Germany's high debts. Germany is still doing quite well compared to other European countries. Countries like France and Italy are the problem children of Europe.

Nevertheless, the message from IMF head Kristalina Georgieva is very clear. "Global national debt is on the verge of reaching its highest level since the Second World War," Georgieva said before the meeting. "The biggest sinners are the industrialized countries." They should not rely on economic growth and should take on even more debt.

“We have just closed a gap of 34 billion euros,” says Klingbeil. That means: Savings are already being made, but more savings still need to be made.

"We are back"

After all, economic growth in Germany has now been revised up to 1.3 percent by the International Monetary Fund. "Germany is back when it comes to economic growth," says Klingbeil in Bangkok.

But part of this is caused by the high debts from the special assets, he admits. You can't rest on your laurels. He also puts a lot of emphasis on private investments, private pension provision, capital market pensions - all of this has to work together and, above all, capital market pensions have to come soon. A clear task for the new Labor Minister Schweitzer, because this project is also a long time coming.

Tobacco, plastic, sugar tax up, electricity tax down?

Klingbeil's ministry has also been stuck for weeks when it comes to the planned increases in tobacco, plastic and sugar taxes. After a long struggle with the coalition partner, a draft for a sugar tax has now been approved in the cabinet.

The Bundestag has now agreed to an increase in tobacco tax, but there is protest over what the billions in federal tax revenue are being used for. The tax will be increased by 2030, and a pack of cigarettes could then cost twelve euros. “It’s about budget consolidation,” says Klingbeil in an ARD interview. But it should also flow into health protection, a mix of both.

Klingbeil reacts skeptically to Chancellor Merz's promised reduction in electricity taxes for everyone. “We are in times of tight budgets. Nobody has anything against reducing the electricity tax. But you also have to say how it will be financed seriously,” says Klingbeil. "I warn that we promise things we cannot keep."

In the current budget for next year, an electricity tax cut is only planned for companies, not for consumers. When Klingbeil returns from his trip to Bangkok, he will have to do a lot of calculations.