German government approves 101-billion-U.S.-dollar budget cut plan

The German government on Wednesday approved its plan for an 80-billion-euro (101-billion-dollar U.S. dollar) budget cut over the next four years.

The austerity plan was unveiled by the government in June in the face of the worst economic crisis that Germany suffered since World War II and in a bid to maintain the stability of the euro.

Although the German economy has seen record growth in the second quarter, increasing 2.2 percent compared with the first quarter, Merkel's cabinet still believed the saving plan was necessary for future development.

"We're doing what we need to do in line with the European Stability and Growth Pact," Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said.

Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle said: "It's a good time to start exiting policies when the economy grows strongly".

According to the new plan, passengers who take a fight in 2011 will have to pay a green flight tax according to the length of their journey.

A move to tax nuclear fuel, which has aroused hot debate, was separated from the plan, due to strong opposition from energy companies.

Germany's nuclear power plant operators, E.ON AG, RWE AG, EnBW Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg AG and Vattenfall Europe AG, have warned the tax could make reactors unprofitable and raise power prices, which would harm the government's plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The final decision on the nuclear fuel tax will be left until September 28, when the government publishes its future energy plans. However, the amount of money the sector needs to shoulder is not negotiable.

Schaeuble said "the decision is connected to energy policy in the end". "The government is willing to make further negotiations on the exact structure of the tax, but that the sector will still need to contribute 2.3 billion euros (2.9 billion dollars), whether through the fuel-rod tax or another mechanism," he said.

To become effective, the savings package still needs the approval of the Bundestag, the lower house of the parliament, which is expected to discuss it in Novemer.

Source: Xinhua