Cabinet Confirms Budget Strategy
The Cabinet today approved a fresh budget strategy aiming for a balanced budget in 2014.
The government is forecasting a deficit of 0.5 percent for the current year. Last year, the only EU country to have a budget surplus was Germany, yet Estonia achieved the smallest deficit, at 0.2 percent.
Estonia's debt should also begin receding next year. Last year, debt grew to 10 percent, primarily due to the European Financial Stability Facility.
The government plans to begin growing reserves starting from 2016.
At the end of last year, reserves amounted to 10 percent of GDP, but they are projected to decrease to 6 percent by 2015, partly due to their use for covering the budget deficit.