An independent advisory body tasked with assessing Estonian fiscal policy says it does not approve of the Ministry of Finance's summer economic forecast, issued in late August, on the grounds that it uses outdated premises on the growth of government spending, partly relating to the change in administration in July.
All three coalition parties are in agreement that the 2023 state budget, due to be sent to the Riigikogu in a month, must, despite growing inflation in other areas, also bring a significant salary increases to public sector workers, ETV news show 'Aktuaalne kaamera' (AK) reported Tuesday.
Decisions made by the Reform Party in late June which involved scrapping three major infrastructure projects which would have utilized European Union recovery funds are back on the table now Reform is in office with Isamaa and the Social Democrats (SDE).
Finance minister Keit Pentus-Rosimannus (Reform) is to present a bill to the government which proposes extending current excise duty rates by one year, and postponing an excise duty hike planned for 2023. The excise duties were cut in an effort to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, but re-raising them to pre-pandemic levels needs to be set against the current, record levels of inflation.
Finance Minister Keit Pentus-Rosimannus will introduce a bill to the government, which proposes to extend the current excise duty rates by one year and to postpone the excise duty increase planned for 2023.