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"Why is the budget so high?"
It wasn't that Franz was making a big fuss, the initial investment for the Near East development plan was as high as 200 million Divine Shields. If calculated based on these expenses, the originally planned 1 billion Divine Shields wouldn't nearly be enough to complete the infrastructure construction.
Without infrastructure, immigrants won't settle, and private capital naturally won't flow in. Without attracting private capital, relying solely on government funding for development would bankrupt the Vienna Government.
Prime Minister Felix explained, "The main war has severely damaged the Near East region, beyond the government's prior expectations.
Majority of the cities are in ruins, and for many cities, the cost of repair is higher than rebuilding.
Mines, roads, bridges, and water conservancy facilities are all destroyed by the war and must be rebuilt.