There is no doubt that the situation in our country is exceptional.
Nevertheless, our state finances are relatively healthy at the moment since Finance Minister Pierre Gramegna has pursued a rigorous budgetary policy in recent years, which – in comparison with most other EU states – has given us greater room for manoeuvre to keep the economy afloat in the face of the crisis.
In 2018 and 2019, the State not only had a surplus in the general government, but also in central government. This has not been the case since the banking crisis of 2008.
Without the COVID crisis, our sovreign debt would have been reduced to less than 20 per cent of GDP. This is a better figure than the roughly 24% that prevailed before the first government under Prime Minister Bettel in 2013.
With this room for manoeuvre, we have drawn up an ambitious stabilisation and recovery plan, as only a few other EU countries have been able to do.
The aim of these investments is to make the country more resilient: ecologically, socially and economically.
Furthermore, the 2021 budget shows that the DP continues to prepare the country for the future. The 2021 budget is synonymous with a very positive development for housing, substantial and solidarity-based investments directed towards sustainable development and attractiveness of the country. Our investments are higher during the crisis than they were in 2019. That says it all!
