Germany’s Scholz confident of resolving budget crisis, says no dismantling of the welfare state

By GEIR MOULSON
Associated Press

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says he is confident that his troubled government will find a good solution to a budget crisis triggered by a court ruling last month. He promised his center-left party on Saturday that there will be no dismantling of the country’s welfare state. Leaders of Scholz’s three-party coalition have been wrangling over money since Germany’s highest court annulled a decision to repurpose 60 billion euros ($65 billion) originally meant to cushion the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic for measures to help combat climate change and modernize the country. The immediate challenge is to plug a 17 billion-euro hole in next year’s budget.