Govt announces EUR 55.7b budget for 2018

The government on Thursday proposed a budget of EUR 55.7 billion for the year 2018 where the costs for the law enforcing agencies has been increased to ensure security.

The budget also raised the pensions and tightened taxes on alcohol.

The budget proposal for 2018 drawn up by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment is growth policy supporting the government's employment and growth objectives, said an official press release.

The growth policy reinforces the preconditions for economic growth. The speeding up of growth based on know-how will be provided with extra finance to be used in advancing research and innovation policies.

“We especially want to support rapid job creation,” the Minister for Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä and the Minister for Employment Jari Lindström said.

They said that country's economy is now well on the way to the road to growth. Given this situation, it is especially important to secure a supply of skilled labour to companies.

Reducing youth unemployment is one of the points of focus at the ministerial framework conference on spending limits. Finding jobs for young people will be supported by establishing so-called Ohjaamo-toiminta (trans. "Navigator services") and by developing employment services aimed at young people.

The new "Navigator" service will have appended to it a new psychosocial support package aimed at doing away with young people's work-ability and ability-to-function problems as well as removing obstacles to their finding jobs, and for all this to happen at as early a stage as possible.

“We are developing services aimed at young people in close cooperation with private service providers. The objective is to guide 10,000 young people to the new services and for this we are setting aside 15 million euros to be used in public employment and enterprise services. Service providers will be paid only for results, i.e. for the progress by young people to engage in education and training or in work,” Lindström said.

In addition, there will be increases in wage subsidies for people under 30 in connection with 3 and 6 month interviews and merging of wage subsidies in connection with job-seeking coaching and on-the-job-coaching. The offering of vocational education and training is intended to be increased by 1,000 student places, especially in fields where there is a shortage of labour force.

In accordance with the decisions taken at the spring ministerial framework conference on spending limits, additional inputs will be directed at supporting growth and internationalisation and innovativeness.

Innovativeness and internationalisation services will be directed at one-stop services when Tekes and Finpro are merged to form a new actor bearing the name Business Finland. Business Finland will bring under the same roof all the services associated with innovation financing, exporting, investing, and promotion of the tourism. Business Finland is proposed to have a budget of slightly less than 271 million euros, which is 30 million euros more than the current budget's figure. Business Finland's authorisation to take loans will increase by 10 million euros to a total of 157 million euros.

The Government has decided to promote changes in company ownership as a part of the entrepreneurship parcel by allocating 400,000 euros for this purpose in 2018. Successful ownership changes play a central role in securing of jobs and tax revenues. Earlier, on August 9 The Ministry of Finance proposed budget appropriations of EUR 55.4 billion for the year 2018.

The amount is EUR 400 million less than the budget of this year.

The total sum is reduced by, among other things, consolidation measures in accordance with the Government Programme, while the appropriation level is increased by growth in pension expenditure as well as the preparation of the health, social services and regional government reform.