"Our country's investment backlog is huge," said Federal Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD) on Tuesday (July 8) when he presented his draft budget for the current year in the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag.

Dilapidated roads, collapsing bridges, school and university buildings in a state of disrepair, trains that are never on time, no nationwide internet access — all this is part of everyday life in Germany, Klingbeil said, promising that this would change soon.

Investment in infrastructure will play a prominent role in the coming years. For this year alone, €115 billion ($135 billion) has been earmarked in the draft budget. "We are investing more than ever before in the future viability of our country, and that is a good sign," Klingbeil told lawmakers.

"We want citizens to feel in their everyday lives that something is changing, that the swimming pool is getting new showers, that the rails are being renovated, the bridges are being stabilized, and the fiber optic cable is being laid," said Klingbeil, who is also vice-chancellor and co-chairman of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD).

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The finance minister has often said that his job is........

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