Berlin raises the debt brake: huge budget for 2026/27 planned!

Berlin raises the debt brake: huge budget for 2026/27 planned!

Berlin, Deutschland - On July 22, 2025, the Berlin Senate decided to draft the budget for the years 2026 and 2027. Expenditures for the next two years are expected to increase by around 10 percent, which corresponds to around 43.8 billion euros for 2026 and 44.629 billion euros for 2027. This means an increase of around four billion euros compared to the previous year. The draft was adopted before the election next year and does not provide for a savings budget.

Berlin plans to spend around five billion euros more annually in the next two years than it takes. The recently loosened debt brake and additional loans enable these higher expenses. The federal government makes a contribution through the attracting debt brake, which in Berlin contributes to around 800 million euros annually. These measures are crucial to finance the planned investments.

investment focus and social expenses

Finance senator Stefan Evers announced that the Senate plans to accept more than one billion euros in economic loans. Around 2.5 billion euros are to be used for valuable investments, which is also debt -effective. A significant part of the budget is spent on personnel costs and pensions because many employees achieve higher levels of experience. The transfer expenditure for aid for education and integration aids are also increasing.

A special strain on one billion euros per year is planned for the accommodation of refugees. Social residential construction receives an additional billion euros annually to promote up to 5,000 social housing. These measures are part of the corner values based on coalition decisions and prescribe the departments which are available for budgets for personnel costs, investments and consumer issues.

debt and budget monitoring

Berlin's debt will increase from 67.1 billion euros at the end of 2024 to 75.8 billion euros by 2027, which means an increase of almost 13 percent. According to the rules of debt brake, the structural net credit recording is set to zero, but there are exceptions to emergencies. The debt brake is intended to limit the increase in debt in public budgets and relieve future generations.

Compliance with the debt brake for 2022 to 2024 is already guaranteed in accordance with financial planning 2020-2024. The planning brake for 2020 and 2021 was documented in the stability report. The double budget will be discussed in the House of Representatives after the summer break and should be decided by mid -December.

The current budget plans clearly show the challenges in front of which Berlin is facing. The balance between the necessary investment in social issues and compliance with legal requirements for debt brake remains a central task for the coming years. Further information on the details of the budget design can be viewed at RBB24, berlin.de and berlin.de.

rbb24 reports that the expenses should increase by around 10%. berlin.de emphasizes that the corner values are based on previous coalition resolutions. Additional details on the debt brake and their effects provides berlin.de .