At the start of the year, Finance Minister Christian Lindner confirmed the Federal Government’s expectation of a slight fall in inflation rates. He gives top priority to the fight for price stability and calls on the traffic light government to lift the ban on fracking in Germany in the new year.

Federal Minister of Finance Christian Lindner (FDP) expects permanently high energy prices and gives top priority to the fight for price stability. “It will be a new normal. Gas via the liquid gas terminals is more expensive than Russian pipeline gas for logistical reasons alone,” Lindner told Bild am Sonntag.

“The price level will therefore remain higher, but without ruinous peaks.” At the start of the year, Lindner confirmed the federal government’s expectation of slightly falling inflation rates: “For 2023 we expect 7 percent, but in 2024 and after that the numbers will continue to fall according to the forecasts. The target remains 2 percent. This must be a top priority for the European Central Bank and the federal government, because persistently high inflation would undermine our economic foundations.”

In this context, Lindner called on the traffic light government to lift the fracking ban in Germany in the new year. “It’s not just the prices for consumers that are worth rethinking, the arguments against it are also outdated,” Lindner told BamS. “In 2021, an independent commission of experts of the Bundestag confirmed that the technology is responsible. The ban should fall. Then private investors can decide whether mining is economical. I expect competitive advantages over gas from other regions of the world.”