BERLIN, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- German industry leaders and a trade union on Monday called for the government to make additional investments of 450 billion euros (498 billion U.S. dollars) by 2030 and abandon its balanced federal budget policy.
The Federation of German Industries (BDI), along with the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB), asked the government to come up with a 10-year investment program, with annual required investments of 45 billion euros.
Germany could no longer "endanger" the prosperity of future generations through "outdated infrastructure and an underfunded education system," said Dieter Kempf, president of the BDI.
"Public investments amounting to half a percentage point of economic output are already lacking today," said Kempf. "The additional requirements for climate protection have not yet been taken into account."
The demand of the industry associations was based on a joined study by the German Economic Institute (IW) and the Macroeconomic Policy Institute.
With 138 billion euros until 2030, the biggest part of the additional investments should be used to address investment backlogs in German towns and municipalities, the study found.
Another 120 billion euros would be required to finance the expansion of Germany's digital infrastructure and traffic routes, according to the study.
The third largest share of the investments, with a value of 110 billion euros, should go to early childhood education, the development and operation of all-day schools, universities and the promotion of research and development.
On Friday, a parliament committee agreed to a federal annual budget of 362 billion euros. For the seventh time in a row, Germany has stuck to its "black zero" policy of a balanced budget and is set to make no new debt.
In order to make the additional investments, the German industry associations demanded that the German government should at least temporarily abandon the concept of a balanced budget.
"The debt brake regulations should be modified as quickly as possible to provide the necessary room for loans," said IW on Monday. Anchored in German basic law, the debt brake requires that Germany's national government can only make new debts worth 0.35 percent of the GDP.
The German Council of Economic Experts, which recently presented their annual report, also concluded that sticking to the "black zero" policy could be a hindrance in fighting against a stronger economic downturn.
