Estonian finance minister: Last year's state budget deficit was 3 percent

Last year's state budget deficit will be 3 percent of expected GDP, Estonian Minister of Finance Minister Mart Võrklaev (Reform) said on ETV show "Otse uudistemajast." Võrklaev pointed out that VAT receipts were lower than forecast due to the cooling down of the economy.
"Yesterday we received a first overview. Last year's budget deficit is three," said Võrklaev on Monday.
"There were some surprises on year in terms of income tax, which came in somewhat higher, while VAT came in somewhat lower than we expected," said Võrklaev.
According to Võrklaev, the lower-than-forecast VAT receipts show that the economic environment has cooled down and consumption has declined.
"And the implementation of investments, which has been a serious question for ministers in the current economic situation, has also been a serious question for me this year, so that we still get these investments and these investment grants, to the market as quickly as possible. Last year, the implementation of investments and investment grants remained at somewhere around 75 percent. 25 percent will be postponed to this year," Võrklaev said.
"This shows that we have a problem with the use of money. It is precisely this money that we should be using in a situation where our economy is in a difficult spot, where we could be stimulating it more from the state," he added.
Võrklaev stressed that the three percent budget deficit also shows the government is working hard to stimulate the economy.
According to Võrklaev, the amount of funds to be transferred over to this year will increase. "We are talking about hundreds of millions. From 2022 to 2023, both investment and operating expenditure were somewhere around €900 million, which remained unused and was carried over. Now we see that we generated unused funds last year," the minister said.
He said that the situation related to funds being carried over has now been analyzed, with changes made by the Ministry of Finance in line with revisions to the budget.
"So that we can still understand where the money is needed and how much is needed, then it will be used. It is not as if the money is always short, but on the other hand, there is money left over somewhere and perhaps in another place, where it might be needed more, we cannot spend it," said Võrklaev.
Võrklaev said that in the state budget strategy, it was agreed that the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications and the Ministry of Finance will bring €150 million to the 2025 state budget, with the next three ministries having to bring in €75 million for the 2026 state budget.
In addition to cutting the number of agencies, he added, services also need to be reviewed. All the ministries working on this issue have already submitted their initial plans, according to the minister. "In the grand scheme of things, savings can be found in relation to operating costs. But the big sums may still come from changes in services," he said.
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Editor: Michael Cole