The Estonian parliament on Wednesday adopted the 2016 state budget, the volume of which is projected to total 8.92 billion euros and its receipts 8.84 billion euros.
Estonian parlt adopts 2016 state budget
9th December 2015, 19:30
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The bill was adopted with 58 to 40 votes and there were no abstentions.
«The budget supports the growth of Estonian economy and well-being,» Finance Minister Sven Sester was quoted by spokespeople as saying. «The budget has been drawn up conservatively and so that it supports economic growth,» he added.
The volume of next year's state budget is projected to grow by 4.2 percent on year to 8.92 billion euros. The state's receipts in 2016 are budgeted to total 8.84 billion euros. The biggest sources of revenue are going to be taxes and social tax receipts, the volume of which is to grow by 5 percent to 6.24 billion euros, it is written in the state budget draft.
Next year's tax burden is to be 33.2 percent of the gross domestic product which is 0.2 percentage points less than in 2015. The share of labor taxes will fall to 48.8 percent, the share of consumption taxes is to move up to 43.8 percent and the share of capital taxes is to decline to 7.4 percent.
Of the state budget's expenditures, social protection makes up the biggest share, totaling 34.4 percent of the budget or 3.07 billion euros. Health care expenses amount to 12.5 percent of next year's budget with 1.12 billion euros, which means that expenditures of the social field make up 46.9 percent of the budget's total expenditures.
Military defense expenses will grow to 2.07 percent of GDP or by 37.1 million euros. The total sum the state is to direct into national defense is 423.8 million euros.