German Cabinet approves 2022 budget plan with more new debt

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s Cabinet has approved 2022 budget plans that will see rules against running up new debt suspended for the third consecutive year as the government seeks to help Europe’s biggest economy recover from the coronavirus pandemic. Finance Minister Olaf Scholz’s plans that were approved on Wednesday call for new borrowing of 81.5 billion euros in 2022, compared with 240.2 billion euros this year. After six years in the black, Germany resorted to running up new debt in 2020 to help cover the cost of support and stimulus packages and an expected shortfall in tax revenue.