BERLIN, Nov 15 (Reuters) - The German government has imposed a spending freeze on the Climate and Transformation fund, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said on Wednesday.
The German government faces a 60 billion euro ($65 billion) hole in its finances after the country's constitutional court ruled on Wednesday that a plan to spend unused emergency funds from the pandemic on climate initiatives was unconstitutional.
Excluded from the spending freeze are measures for energy efficiency and the promotion of renewable energies in the building sector, Lindner said.
"We will immediately begin to draw up a new economic plan for the Climate and Transformation Fund for the years 2024 onwards", the minister said.
"All promised commitments will be kept," Economy Minister Robert Habeck said. However, new commitments to the climate fund will only be possible as soon as the new economic plan is in place, he added. (Reporting by Maria Martinez and Christian Kraemer; Editing by Madeline Chambers)