President: State budget must be easy to understand
President Alar Karis finds recent polemic about the state budget process to be less about whether budgets should be based on activities or expenses and more about making sure the budget is easily understandable.
In an interview with Vikerraadio's Mirko Ojakivi on Thursday, President Alar Karis acknowledged that the current debate over the transparency of the state budget feels very familiar to him from his time as auditor general seven years ago.
"The problem is not new, but it continues in the same vein. Back then, the idea of performance-based budgeting was in the air, and I said it could create a more complicated situation in terms of understanding the text. The issue isn't whether the budget is activity-based or cost-based, the budget just needs to be understandable," Karis said.
According to the president, understanding the state budget now requires the knowledge or help from an accountant.
"But neither members of the Riigikogu nor the broader public have specialized education. You have to search and you'll find something eventually. But you find what's there and then realize what isn't," he said.
At the same time, the president expressed the view that improving the comprehensibility of the budget is in the hands of the Riigikogu itself. He added that the level of engagement in parliament leaves much to be desired and should be raised.
The host asked the president to comment on remarks made by Finance Minister Jürgen Ligi (Reform) after the first reading of the state budget, where Ligi said, "The best argument against increasing the Riigikogu's role in the budget process is five minutes of Riigikogu debate."
The president responded that the finance minister speaks in his own way and each person can judge for themselves whether that style is appropriate.
"For me, it's difficult to say because I'm not objective – I've known Jürgen Ligi since childhood. I used to pick him up from kindergarten and we went to practice together. So, I'm not objective when it comes to assessing him," Karis said.
The president agreed with the criticisms made by both the chancellor of justice and the auditor general regarding the State Budget Act. He also supported the latter's criticism that amending the act knowing it will have no impact is a waste of limited resources and a futile effort.
Karis also had a message for the government: don't bring ideas to the public until you have thought them through for yourselves. According to the president, this erodes trust.
"The public understands that a defense tax is necessary. But if they see that it's not going to the right place, trust quickly fades. And it's much harder to regain trust than to lose it," Karis said.
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Editor: Urmet Kook, Marcus Turovski