Germany's finance minister says budget cuts are required

The German government will still have to find ways to save budget resources despite the possibility of using the new infrastructure fund and spending an unlimited amount of money on defense. This will require a decrease in investments in other areas of the economy, as announced by the new Minister of Finance of Germany Lars Klingbeil.

The official said his goals are to invest in the modernization and future viability of the country, as well as to ensure its security. On Wednesday, Klingbeil told lawmakers which project areas will receive funding from the infrastructure fund that has 500 billion euros ($560 billion) available. These include schools, highways, railroads, clean energy, housing, and fast internet.

The need for budget savings mentioned by the official is partly due to a supposed drop in tax revenues. Klingbeil is scheduled to provide their updated estimates on Thursday. According to a report published Tuesday in the Handelsblatt newspaper, the data will show that the state treasury will receive much less money than expected. The authors of the report attribute this to continued weak economic growth.