The financial position of the Land Berlin – compared to that of Hamburg (original publication in German)

Budgetary revenues of the Land Berlin have been considerably high because of an external co-alimentation from the federal budget, both before and in the aftermath of German reunification. This support has contributed to a lack of discipline on the expenditure side of the budget of Berlin. In comparison to the budget of the Hanseatic town of Hamburg, a list of potential expenditure cuts has been compiled for the year 2001. The list shows that the expenditure cuts are concentrated on subsidies. Potential budgetary savings as measured against expenditures per capita in Hamburg would amount to nearly 6 bill. euro, a total which roughly equals the sum of primary deficit and interest payments for the year 2001. Realizing these budgetary savings, therefore, would supersede additional public debts.