German Finance Minister proposes reserving part of national energy aid for emergencies

DÜSSELDORF (ALEMANIA), 1 Oct. (DPA / EP) -

The German Minister of Finance, Christian Lindner, has shown this Saturday in favor of reserving a portion of the 200,000 million euros of aid approved this week by the German Government in order to cushion energy costs.

"Our efforts should be aimed at reserving the 200,000 million as far as possible," Lindner explained in statements published by the newspaper 'Rheinische Post' in its Saturday edition.

The liberal minister was also in favor of expanding the supply of energy to lower market prices and of keeping the three nuclear power plants still in operation connected to the grid, in addition to the reactivation of at least two more.

Lindner has further proposed developing new sources of gas supply and producing as little electricity as possible from gas. He has also called for a rapid expansion of renewable energy.

"The further we go on it, the further we get with the $200 billion," Lindner said.

On Thursday, the German government decided to curb the price of gas and agreed to allocate 200,000 million euros to the measure in addition to abolishing the controversial tax on gas, which was to come into force today.

This rate was intended to help energy companies, which must pay more due to the cut in supply from Russia, linked to tensions between the West and Moscow over the war in Ukraine.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called the move a "defensive shield" to cushion the sharp rise in energy prices. "Prices have to come down," he added.