New Budget Is a Pre-Election Budget, Says Reinsalu
IRL chairman Urmas Reinsalu said the new budget has been tailor-made for an election year.
The national conservative opposition party's leader said the agreed-to plan is a deficit budget, with the state burning up 150 million euros of reserves in 2015. He said the current government said restoring additional pension payments will run the budget into a deficit, but that will only cost 51 million euros of the red ink. The other 99 million will not be used to repay loans or for investments, but to cover running costs.
Center Party MP Kadri Simson said the new budget encompasses much her party has fought for, such as free lunches for secondary school children, although the budget does not go far enough as food prices have increased but the state's calculations on a cost of one meal has remained the same in recent years.
She said the price of one meal should be 1 euro to the state, not the current 78 cents.
Rõivas handed the budget to Parliament on Wednesday, saying the focus is on security, internal security investments and social security issues.