In addition, he aims to return to a sustainable budget policy in the medium term. He is also against softening the budget rules at EU level. Another goal is to avoid further lockdowns in Austria, Brunner said in an APA interview. So the turquoise-green government has a good chance that it will last until 2024.

Brunner assumes that his budget will hold up despite the impending Omikron wave. “We did well before the crisis and that gives us more leeway than other countries. That is a good thing, and that is also the reason why I urge us to go back to a sustainable budget path after the crisis.”

He doesn’t believe in loosening the EU’s budget rules. There are some states that see it that way too. “There is an alliance of reason,” says Brunner. There are seven states that are going this way. He is curious how the new German Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) will approach it. “I’m actually optimistic about what I’ve heard from him in the past, he seems to support this path too. I’ll meet him in January to discuss these things with him.”

The goal for the coming year is to bring economic stimulus programs on the way to strengthen the business location and the capital market. Equity and alternative forms of savings are also to be made more attractive. “There are some things we can do.” There should also be projects in the area of ​​pensions and against old-age poverty. The ecological aspect should also be kept in mind. The aim is to support the forecast upswing of five percent. The stimulus program will not necessarily be a large package, but rather several measures in different areas.

He does not know when the crisis will be over. He hoped for a return to normal budgetary policy as soon as possible. He is aiming for debt reduction and a balanced budget in the medium term. Here we are talking about a longer-term period. “Now it is important to make the economic aid accordingly and to begin with economic stimuli after the crisis and to embark on a sustainable budget path again in the medium term and to ensure that this also happens at EU level,” said Brunner.

The economic researchers are optimistic that the forecast growth of five percent will hold in 2022. This would put Austria above the EU average and above Germany and Switzerland. The tax reform alone brings one percent more growth. “That is huge and it helps us in other areas, for example when it comes to refinancing.”

The economic aid has so far brought Austrian companies through the crisis quite well. “That is very important, and the OECD confirms that. The Austrian aid is extremely good in Europe too, but of course you have to adjust again and again. We do that too, like the application for the cancellation bonus brought forward to December 10th to enable the funds to be paid out before Christmas. ” COFAG has already approved numerous cases. In total, more than 21 million euros have been and will be paid out to 7,600 businesses in the coming days. The majority of the largest applications for the cancellation bonus come from the catering industry (restaurants, pubs, coffee houses). The other sectors are trade and services particularly affected by the pandemic.

“With the failure bonus we have created an instrument that has a very targeted effect and above all supports small and medium-sized companies. We have repeatedly reacted to economic aid and criticism from the past: applications can be made as early as the 10th of each month. The cancellation bonus can be requested from a drop in sales of 30 percent. It was important to us that.

These adjustments are made over and over again, but it is important for the companies and the finance minister that there is no longer a lockdown, as well as possible. “Lockdowns are a burden for the economy, although we can also see that each lockdown has had less and less negative effects. That is a positive. Nevertheless, the ultimate goal must be to prevent another lockdown,” said Brunner. He admits, of course, that dying is first a health issue and only then an economic one. “We will do everything we can to get our companies through these difficult times and to help them.”

Brunner justifies the fact that companies sometimes have to repay aid payments by stating that help had to be provided quickly and that sometimes excessive payments were made. However, many companies have already made use of the option of early repayment. 1,100 companies have already repaid 15 million euros. “I ask all companies to continue to do so so that they avoid penalties. Because we will control. The controls are an important part, because tax money has to be handled carefully.” Those who voluntarily repay saved fines that can amount to several thousand euros.

Finance Minister Magnus Brunner (ÖVP) described the mood in the turquoise-green government as “very positive”. “I think we managed to bring stability into it. People rightly expect us to work and we do that from day one.” Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) is doing “a great job, because it is balancing and unifying and has brought calm”.

“I am thoroughly optimistic. The one with the coalition is a sensible one. We still have a lot to do. The cancellation of the construction of the Lobau tunnel by Climate Protection Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) is not an insurmountable hurdle for Brunner.” All problems can be overcome if one is concerned behaves constructively and speaks to one another and perhaps responds to the needs of the other partner. I don’t think there are insurmountable stumbling blocks. When to deal with each other sensibly and then I believe that it can work quite well. “The tax reform and the Renewable Expansion Law have shown that” we can work well together “.

The amount of the CO2 price of 30 euros, which is criticized by many as being too low, can be discussed, but Austria has sensibly oriented itself towards Germany. “Taking a different price would not have been productive.” Brunner is convinced that EVERY price has a steering effect if the accompanying measures, such as the expansion of public transport, are correspondingly good. “We must not overstrain the dying people. Taking them with us on the transformation path is very important,” said Brunner, referring to countries like France, where this did not happen and led to protests. “We will only achieve the climate targets if everyone participates.”

The abolition of the cold progression remains a goal, continues Brunner. “But in the current situation it is more expedient to make a tax reform. Higher earners would rather benefit from this.” At the moment, a tax reform with steering effects is more important. (Background: The cold progression is the additional tax burden that arises over time if the key figures of a progressive tax rate are not adjusted to the rate of price increase.)

He himself continues to try to take the train as much as possible, according to the Vorarlberg resident, who was State Secretary in the Climate Protection Ministry before the government was reorganized. In the city he usually goes on foot. But he also uses the car and sometimes has to fly. “Flying is not evil, we have to see that flying becomes sustainable.”