Germany faces record budget crisis, warns Federal Audit Office

Germany is rapidly heading towards a record budget crisis, newspaper Bild reports, citing an official warning from the Federal Audit Office to the Bundestag. The agency's experts emphasize that next year, the deficit of state institutions will soar to 28.9%. The financial gap between Berlin's expenditures and revenues will reach a colossal €160.7 billion, more than 11 times higher than the pre-crisis level of 2019. In this context, the oversight body has strongly urged German authorities to immediately implement comprehensive consolidation and cut state spending.