The LSAP MP, charged with presenting the report on the budget, did so on Tuesday afternoon following fifteen sessions with the parliamentary commission on the budget and finance. Expenses and revenue will both exceed €20 billion and the budget is expected to have a deficit of €640 million, broadly due to the purchase of a military plane.
The budget will incorporate a number of significant investments, broadly in the public transport sector and in the domain of road improvements. However, Cruchten outlined that measures planned for tackling climate change and the fiscal reform are not yet developed and consequently, have not been calculated. Cruchten also described it as regrettable that a number of elements in the domain of housing are not yet prepared due to discrepancies between initiatives and the budget project.
He added that the housing crisis is most clearly measured in calculating the welfare of residents. Cruchten said it is clear that inequalities are rising in Luxembourg, explaining that the topic that income is more unfairly distributed than the EU average is one that is not discussed enough.
Generally, the parliamentary commission recommends that delays must be shortened. Broadly, Cruchten focused on the idea of the welfare GDP, returning to the topic of social inequalities.
ADR MP Gast Gibéryen pointed out that Cruchten spoke for a long time, but failed to mention any concrete measures, which relates to the fact that the budget itself has few concrete measures.
The CSV shared Gibéryen's concerns, adding that the government must focus on adding concrete measures as a priority. In terms of housing, the 1.8% increase in the budget fails to reflect the government's ambitions.
Pirate Party MP Sven Clement argued that the budget's figures are far too optimistic, pointing out that debt should not just be compared in terms of the GDP, but also the wellbeing of the general population.
The Left praised the fact that the rapporteur addressed the social issue of rising inequalities. Nevertheless, MP David Wagner pointed out that the problem resides in the fact that the issue is not addressed at all in the government's budgetary policy.
