Overview

• The budget sets spending at about €502.5 billion with €81.8 billion in core new borrowing, with total debt exposure topping €140 billion once special funds are included.
• A final Bundestag vote is slated for mid-September, with 19 September targeted, which would end the provisional budget management.
• Because of the early election and late government formation, the plan effectively covers only the final months of the year.
• Additional credit lines were recently put at €37.2 billion for infrastructure and €24.1 billion for defense, and the defense ministry’s core budget rises by nearly €10 billion to more than €62 billion.
• Opposition figures and some experts accuse the government of opaque accounting and question the legal test of investment additionality, while Kanzleramtsminister Thorsten Frei urges Bürgergeld reform proposals within days to help confront medium‑term gaps including roughly €30 billion in 2027.