New state budget will bring cuts to administrative costs
The Cabinet will discuss the 2016 budget today, with focus on decreasing state administrative costs.
“We will look at administrative areas with focus on labor costs, and on decreasing them,” Finance Minister Sven Sester said, adding that the Health Insurance Fund will receive focus, and an audit on the state's real estate assets will soon be completed.
Currently, the 2016 state budget is 2.8 percent larger than this year's budget, with revenues predicted at 8.8 billion euros, although more precise figures will be available once Statistics Estonia reviews its statistical input into the prediction process.
“Priority topics for us are what was written into the coalition agreement: from security, economic growth and decreasing labor tax to low income workers and supporting families with children,” Sester said.
He said the budget will still have a conservative approach. According to the law, the government must hand next year's budget over to Parliament for debate and voting before the end of September. The voting process itself usually takes several months.
Editor: J.M. Laats