Suche
Mein Konto
Saxony-Anhalt: Almost a billion euros in Corona aid remains unused!
In Saxony-Anhalt, almost 1 billion euros of the Corona special fund are unused. Reasons and planned redeployments in detail.
Saxony-Anhalt: Almost a billion euros in Corona aid remains unused!
In Saxony-Anhalt, almost 1 billion euros from the Corona special fund have so far remained unused. The state government announced this after only around 47 percent of the estimated 1.97 billion euros had actually been paid out by the end of July. In the previous four months, the increase in cash outflow was only 4 percent, which raises questions about the efficiency of the use of funds.
There are many reasons for the slow outflow of funds. On the one hand, internal procedures and time-consuming procurement procedures are responsible, but on the other hand, there are difficulties in finding suitable companies to implement the planned measures. The focus of the Corona special fund is on around 60 measures that serve to cushion the consequences of the pandemic. However, the outflow of funds remains low, particularly in the healthcare and education sectors.
Investment backlog in the education and health sectors
28.2 million euros are currently available for digitization-related measures in schools, of which only around 11 million euros have been used. In addition, the data shows that so far only 3.3 of 48.1 million euros have been used for pandemic-resilient construction and equipment measures in schools. Saxony-Anhalt is also falling behind when it comes to investing in hospitals: not even half of the funds have been used up.
With regard to the digitalization of the state administration, over 300 million euros are waiting to be distributed. The regular repayment of the Corona special fund is scheduled to begin in 2029, with annual repayments of 100 million euros.
Controversies surrounding reallocations
By September 30, 2024, around 706 million euros of the 2 billion euros from the special fund had been spent. It is planned to withdraw funds from 33 projects to finance the digitalization of the administration. Digital Minister Lydia Hüskens (FDP) emphasizes the urgent need to catch up in digitalization, while opposition politician Kristin Heiß (Left) emphasizes that the funds for digitalization should not be taken from the Corona special fund. Cuts affect, among other things, investments in the health sector (11 million euros), the digitization of social institutions (9.5 million euros) and measures to deal with learning deficits (19.2 million euros).
The Ministry of Finance defends the planned reallocations as necessary to advance digitalization. The decision on these reallocations will be made in February when the double budget is passed. An intended regulation to suspend the approval of major reallocations in the Corona special fund from 2026 is also met with criticism, particularly with regard to the potential disempowerment of Parliament.
While discussions about the use of funds in the Corona special fund continue, it remains to be seen whether Saxony-Anhalt will be able to catch up on the backlog in the use of funds and achieve the goals set in the areas of education and health.