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Padar: Estonia will make hard decisions without IMF help
Juhan Tere, BC, Tallinn, 16.12.2008.Print version
Estonian Finance Minister Ivari Padar announced that in case of increasing budget deficit his ministry will prepare a package of laws on making the state budget more flexible, the Baltic Business News channel/LETA reported via Arileht.ee.
Ivari Padar. |
He said that the package to make laws more flexible will be developed in the first quarter, and the parliament could approve them in the first half of 2009.
Then the government will decide where to apply cuts without seeking help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
"I can confirm with my hand on my heart I haven't had such temptation," Padar said at a press conference after IMF mission ended. "The Ministry of Finance must be ready to make quick proposals in case 2009's budget needs correction. What do these corrections mean? In plain English – there is a need to cut something," Padar said.
He named expenditures in defence and social spheres as possible budget cuts.