Budget Expenditure Exceeded Revenue in 2011
The state received 5.89 billion euros in revenue last year, while expenditure totaled at 6.16 billion euros.
According to the Ministry of Finance, the revenue exceeded the projected figure by 3.3 percent. A total of 4.34 billion euros was tax money, with the social security tax and VAT accounting for most revenue – 1.8 billion and 1.34 billion euros, respectively.
The rest was received through various EU grants and Norwegian and Swiss governmental programs as well as the sale of carbon allowances.
The treasury's expenditure in 2011 made up 99.5 percent of the projected amount. The 10 percent growth in expenditure was caused by the partial restoration of state contributions into workers' second pillar pension funds and payouts from the proceeds from the sale of carbon credits.
Around 950 million euros, or 300 million euros more than in 2010, were channeled into state investments.
In 2010, around 5.61 billion euros accrued to the national budget, which exceeded the expenditure by 0.1 billion.
Ingrid Teesalu