Minister of Finance Jürgen Ligi said that the problems of the 2026 state budget stem from the 2016 mistakes. According to him, the coalition parties at that time violated the budget rules.
Ligi said that he does not read the state budget in full. He quickly reviews it and asks questions. According to him, it is the officials who do the detailed work. They have a hard job in preparing the budget.
Experts are concerned because there is a large deficit in the budget. Ligi is also concerned. He said that war and defense costs make the situation difficult. The European Union changed the rules so that countries could arm themselves more.
Ligi did not like the tax cuts promised during the elections. He thinks they are not realistic. According to him, some taxes are bad for the economy. The coalition reversed these taxes because they were too harmful.
Ligi said that the state spends a lot on education, culture, and security. However, the departments are modest. For example, 2,700 people work in the Ministry of Finance, but their budget did not increase.
According to Ligi, big mistakes were made in 2016. Countries violated budget rules and changed taxes. This led to an unbalanced situation. The alcohol excise tax was the first mistake. Reserves became scarce, and during the crisis, it was difficult.