Review of the construction site of the Stuttgart 21 railway station, visible on May 22, 2025 in Stuttgart, Germany.
Thomas Niedermueller Getty Images News Getty images
The German broken government is looking for a private sector to help save the sick infrastructure.
Economy Minister Katherina Reiche called for cash injection at the beginning of this month:
“We need speed and investment and we need private capital,” said CNBC. “Of all the investments we do, 10% of them can be made with public money, we need 90% of investments in the private sector.”
Germany became full of problems with infrastructure after a long period of underestimation and restrictions associated with the country's fiscal principles, which leads to crumbling bridges, broken railway tracks and limited digitization.
According to his coalition agreement, these issues are the highest priority for the new government. At the beginning of this year, Germany also introduced the Infrastructure and Investment Climate Fund worth EUR 500 billion (564 billion dollars) in its constitution, along with the amendment of fiscal principles, which is to increase defense expenses – both are widely perceived as a potential strengthening of the fighting country's economy.
“In general, there are certainly great opportunities in defense and infrastructure,” said CNBC Greg Fuzei, EURO economist at JP Morgan.
It seems that the enthusiasm in Germany has become global, according to Stefan Wintels, the CEO of the German investment and development bank KFW.
“There is a lot of interest … this year I was on my way in New York, London and Zurich. I watch and feel a lot of belonging to Germany. People want to invest in Germany,” said CNBC on the sides of the Tegernsee peak at the beginning of this month.
Robin Winkler, the main German economist at Deutsche Bank, repeated sentiment, saying CNBC that recent political movements can cause a wave of investment in the private sector.
“There was a significant perception of interest in investors with German infrastructure,” he said, noting that the mobilization of private capital would be crucial for the government “obtaining a greater bang for its charm from the new special fund.”
Winkler explained that in addition to Berlin plans to spend a large infrastructure, his commitment to cutting red tape was probably attractive to investors.
“In recent years, infrastructure projects in Germany have been inhibited by excessive bureaucratic and regulatory obstacles. There is now an ambitious plan to reduce these obstacles … We expect that reforms also encourage private infrastructure investments,” said Winkler.
Berlin also suggested that he can take further funds to encourage private investments, and the Minister of Economy Reiche informs CNBC that the government needs “shaping programs and submitting private sector offers to invest in our infrastructure.”
How many cash is needed?
Carola Bridge Dresden has become a symbol of the state of German infrastructure. He partially broke down in September 2024, just a few minutes after crossing him the last parent train.
Parts of the Carola bridge over Ĺobanie collapsed.
Robert Michael/Picture Alliance via Getty Images
According to the organization Transport & Environment, thousands of bridges in Germany need work And they require Require an investment with a total value of around EUR 100 billion.
Elsewhere, German railway company, Deutsche Bahn, apparently He said that by 2034 he would need around EUR 150 billion to modernize, maintain and expand the existing network and increase digitization.
Speaking more broadly report From the Colonne Institute for Economic Research from May 2024, it suggests that 600 billion will be needed in 10 years to go to the country in the field of infrastructure.
Uncertainty remains
Questions about investment in infrastructure remain despite political rush, including fear of pressure and temporary ability, Jens Thiele, head of finance and corporations at Hamburg Commercial Bank, said CNBC.
“It will be interesting to see how long the approval processes will take to get projects at the RTB stage (ready for business) and whether there is a sufficient ability to develop all these projects at such a compressed time,” he said in written comments.
Fuzesi JP Morgana also noticed that time is a key problem.
“Investors asked questions about the speed of delivery,” he said. “In my opinion,” infrastructure “is very essentially defined and therefore restrictions in one area can be overcome by making more in another area. Ultimately, it boils down to political will, “Fuzei explained.
He added that it was also unclear when – and how effectively – the government's goals to simplify planning processes would become reality.
In the case of the German government, there is pressure to soon implement the promises designed by investors and investment goals.