At €12.2 billion ($12.7 billion), Germany’s 2023 development budget will fall €190 million short of its 2022 core budget total after the Bundestag, the country’s federal parliament, signs off on final budget totals this week. But it is still a dramatic reversal from the €1.3 billion in cuts to the development budget originally proposed by the cabinet in its draft budget earlier this year.
It is also likely to keep Germany on track to hit its target of spending 0.7% of gross national income on official development assistance in 2023, though it is unclear if the government will keep its promise to spend 0.2% of GNI on low- and middle-income countries.
The budget falls short of the expectations of civil society groups, who interpret it as Germany reining in its broader contributions to focus on specific crises, including the impact of the war in Ukraine and global warming.