Scholz Party Seeks Investment, Taxes on Wealthy in Leaked Paper
(Bloomberg) -- Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats have drafted economic proposals, including a government fund to promote investment and a temporary “crisis levy” on the richest Germans, that seek to create 1 million new jobs by 2030, the RND media group reported.
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The package’s goals include spurring €100 billion ($107 billion) annually in private investment and changes to Germany’s limit on new borrowing, according to the report.
That stance risks conflict with the Free Democratic Party, the smallest party in Scholz’s coalition government. It’s calling for reinstatement of Germany’s so-called debt brake and an end to spending that kept the economy afloat through the Covid-19 pandemic and energy crisis.
SPD officials are proposing the plan for inclusion in the party’s 2025 campaign platform. The SPD’s executive committee will discuss it on Monday ahead of a party leadership meeting on Nov. 13, RND reported.
Read more: The Far Right Is on the Rise in Germany and Scholz Is at a Loss
Support for the Social Democrats declined to 16% in an INSA poll for Bild am Sonntag published Sunday, compared with their 25.7% share of the vote in the last German election in 2021. Among Scholz’s coalition partners, the Green party was stagnant at 13% and the Free Democrats polled 6%.
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