Finland's four government parties will begin budget framework negotiations on Monday, with up to one billion euros in cuts likely to be agreed during the two-day talks.
Finance Minister Riikka Purra (Finns) revealed the target figure at the beginning of last month, saying at the time that significant tax hikes are unlikely — but cuts to integration funding and business subsidies are on the table.
While the budget decisions will form the main basis of the talks, they will be held against the backdrop of rising tensions between the coalition partners following controversial statements among immigrants made by Finns Party MP Teemu Keskisarja last week.
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) condemned Keskisarja's comments in the days after his appearance on Yle's A-Studio last Wednesday evening, but Finns Party leader Purra condoned them when she was interviewed on Yle's Ykkösaamu talkshow programme on Saturday morning.
"The recent comments by the Finns Party leadership and the language they have used must be addressed within the government. The budget debate will not end until the matter has been dealt with together," Orpo wrote on social media platform X on Saturday afternoon, a few hours after Purra's appearance on Ykkösaamu.
Speaking to reporters on Monday morning ahead of the beginning of the budget talks, PM Orpo reiterated
"Categorising or evaluating people or groups of people based on their country of birth, socioeconomic background, education or similar is inhumane," Orpo said.
Education minister and leader of the Swedish People's Party, Anders Adlercreutz, also criticised the comments made by Keskisarja as well as the support he has received from within his own party.
"The Finns Party leadership is calling into question the foundations on which government cooperation rests," Adlercreutz wrote.
Government seeks €1bn in savings
Tabloid newspaper Iltalehti reported on Friday that the largest savings measure likely to emerge from the talks will see the Finnish state cut 350 million euros from funding the construction of affordable housing. Currently, this is facilitated through the granting of state-guaranteed ARA loans, which are cheaper than other financing options, and have incentivised construction firms to build more affordable housing units.
Reducing the level of ARA lending would help to bring Finland's state debt figure down, which is a key objective of Orpo's government.
However, IL noted that the move would not actually represent a spending cut, but it is rather a way to make the debt figures look better.
Government sources meanwhile told Yle that increased reimbursements for private doctor visits are also up for discussion. The measure was introduced by Orpo's government as a means of shortening queues in public healthcare by encouraging more people to choose a private provider, but it has proved largely ineffective and its funding will likely be cut.
The government is also expected to cut back on the handing out of business subsidies, while an increase in taxes on alcohol and tobacco as well as a reduction in tax relief offered to "high-earning" pensioners could be in the pipeline.
Government partners reject some of Purra's plans
Yle further understands that while the government parties have already agreed in principle on many of the cuts proposed by the finance ministry, some of Minister Purra's more controversial and politically-motivated suggestions have been widely rejected.
For example, Purra had proposed shutting Finland's National Agency for Education amid claims by some of her party colleagues that the agency was spreading "woke ideology", but this plan has now been shelved.
In addition, a proposal that Finland would stop accepting quota refugees has also been put on hold.
Despite opposition to some of Purra's plans, her proposal to abolish funding aimed at helping immigrants integrate into Finnish society also remains on the chopping block, according to Yle's information.
