Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo's (NCP) coalition government published its state budget proposal for 2024 on Monday.
The government's fiscal plans are familiar to those who have followed the topic recently — the total budget amounts to around 87.9 billion euros, with a deficit of about 11.5 billion euros.
According to the proposal's summary, Orpo's government aims to raise Finns' living standards, steer the economy towards a sustainable path as well as break a trend of debt that threatens to harm Finland's public welfare system.
The government is aiming to slow down deficit spending with spending cuts and one of the biggest reductions will affect the Ministry of the Environment, which will see funding shrink from this year's 357 million euros to 241 million euros in 2024.
In particular, the government plans to lower funding for environmental and nature conservation programmes by more than a third — to around 66 million euros.
The proposed cuts will effectively end a number of environmental efforts initiated by previous administrations.
Some of the spending cuts include the end of energy efficiency rebates for households that replace gas or oil heating systems with more environmentally friendly solutions.
Last month, Yle News examined how the government's fiscal plans could affect the daily lives of people in Finland.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry will receive around 16 million euros less next year, mainly due to the end of a programme initiated during former prime minister Sanna Marin's (SDP) administration to halve the country's use of peat for energy by 2030.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will see a dip in funding due to development aid cuts.
Cuts as well as tax breaks
The proposed reductions also affect the social and health care sector, as well as some of the country's social benefit arrangements.
However, the government is still planning on some tax breaks, which will effectively decrease the state's tax revenue by an estimated 921 million euros. The planned reductions include lower taxes on income, vehicles and fuel, for example.
Law enforcement budgets will grow to nearly one billion euros, as Finland aims to bring the number of police officers to 8,000 by the year 2027. In one move towards that goal, Police University College will offer an additional 500 study places next year.
Around 400 million euros is being set aside for eventual supplementary budgeting during the course of next year.
Parliament is scheduled to begin considering the government's budget proposal and relevant issues on Tuesday.