"On Friday, February 2, 2024, the Bundestag lawmakers passed in the second debate the federal government’s budget for the fiscal year 2024 in the edition recommended by the budget committee," the Bundestag said in a statement, adding that the final edition of the bill envisages cutbacks in subsidies for farmers.
The budget was approved by a majority of votes of Germany’s ruling parties, namely the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and the Greens, known as the "traffic light" coalition, the statement read.
Germany is expected to spend 476.81 billion euros in total ($515.2 billion), 175.6 billion of which have been budgeted for the German Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, according to the statement. The defense budget amounts to 52 billion euros, the statement read.
The budget will be further considered in the German legislative body Bundesrat on March 22, according to the statement.
On January 18, the Bundestag budget committee approved the budget bill following a minor protraction caused by the legal proceedings over the "traffic light" coalition’s move to transfer unused pandemic-era loans to the climate fund would violate the debt brake rule.