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AID

Nicaragua accused of blocking Norwegian aid

A non-governmental studies center headed by Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega's estranged stepdaughter accused his Sandinista government on Monday of blocking Norwegian aid to the group.

Published: 9 April 2013 09:50 CEST
Nicaragua accused of blocking Norwegian aid
Daniel Ortega's (pictured) Sandinista government is accused of blocking Norwegian aid. Photo: Fundscion Ong DE Nicaragua/Wikimedia

The International Studies Center, or CEI by its Spanish acronym, took out newspaper ads accusing Deputy Foreign Minister Valdrack Jaentschke of intervening to prevent the group from signing a cooperation agreement with Norway.

"We are facing an act of abuse of power that violates constitutional rights and the international convention of human rights, which we hope will be rectified," the CEI said.

"We ask the government of Nicaragua to publicly clarify the reasons that it is ordering international cooperation to suspend the financing of the CEI and block the work it is doing," it said.

The Nicaraguan foreign ministry had no immediate response to the accusation.

The CEI is headed by Zoilamerica Ortega Murillo, who in 1998 brought a complaint accusing Ortega of sexually abusing her when she was 11 years old.

The case was dismissed because the statute of limitations had expired.

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FINANCE

‘We’ll be struggling well into next year’: German borrowing to soar amid pandemic

Germany on Friday passed a 2021 budget that once again smashes its "debt brake" rule, promising to shield businesses and workers from the economic hit of the pandemic as cases continue to rise.

Published: 11 December 2020 16:21 CET
'We'll be struggling well into next year': German borrowing to soar amid pandemic
The seating area of a restaurant closed off in Boltenhagen on the Baltic Sea coast. Photo: DPA

Chancellor Angela Merkel's government plans to borrow €300 billion ($364 billion) across 2020 and 2021 combined after the government pledged more than a trillion euros in aid, including through short-time work schemes (Kurzarbeit) and business support.

“The budget is the basis for everyone to be confident that we can provide the necessary economic and social support to get us through this crisis together,” Finance Minister Olaf Scholz told lawmakers.

The budget for 2021, which passed with 361 votes in favour to 258 against, provides for a total of €179.8 billion in new loans and nearly €500 billion in public spending.

It means for both 2020 and 2021, Germany will abandon its cherished “debt brake”, a constitutionally enshrined rule that forbids the government from borrowing more than 0.35 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), before planning to return to no new debt in 2022.

Restrictions to curb the second wave of Covid-19 – including shutting the food-and-drink, leisure and cultural sectors – continue to burden the economy, which previously pushed Berlin to amplify its aid to businesses.

Yet case rates continue to climb. On Friday, Germany reported a record nearly 30,000 new infections and almost 600 deaths in a 24-hour period.

Now, Merkel is facing calls to tighten restrictions again.

READ ALSO: Germany mulls three-week lockdown from December 20th

Aid can't be 'endless'

Despite the “ray of hope” of a vaccine rollout, Scholz said, “we know that… we're going to be struggling well into next year with the health, economic and social challenges that are going to follow from this pandemic.”

Businesses hit by the current closures are entitled to claim aid amounting to up to 75 percent of their revenues for November and December 2019, expected to cost the government some 30 billion euros.

However Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said last week that support for pandemic-hit firms implemented through November and December could not go on “endlessly”.

Nevertheless Altmaier on Friday said he aimed to increase the ceiling for aid from January in the case of a harder lockdown.

Germany's debt-to-GDP ratio will climb to 70 percent this year, Germany's central bank said in a report published Friday.

But public finances will likely improve as coronavirus measures come to an end, it said.

The government expects the economy to shrink by 5.5 percent this year, before rebounding by 4.4 percent next year.
 

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