By Plenary Sessions: Martin Helme

Strong opposition to the government's fiscal policy and tax hikes, which are regarded as deepening the economic recession, damaging the competitiveness of Estonian companies, and being non-transparent. Minister Ligi is accused of incompetence and preparing a budget based on flawed assumptions, which has driven the country "into the ground."

The economic perspectives offered are limited to blaming the government for the economic downturn and shirking responsibility. No specific economic policy positions (such as taxes or regulations) are put forward.

There is strong opposition to the tax hikes, which are viewed as the primary and direct cause of the economic recession, thereby dismissing the government’s claims that the tax increases are insignificant. It stresses that the state is a cost center that requires funding (e.g., maintaining prisons and police forces), and criticizes the government’s desire to profit by renting out prisons.

The speaker strongly opposes the cuts to social benefits (18 million euros), deeming them negligible compared to the massive tax hikes (200 million) and foreign aid expenditures. The budget policy is viewed as a policy of hating families, rather than an economic necessity. There is support for redirecting the state's financial resources toward domestic families instead of foreign aid.

Insufficient data.

Economic views focus on the transparency of the national budget and responsible spending within the social sphere. The speaker criticizes the transfer of funds to the Health Insurance Fund, which, in their estimation, does not guarantee real growth but instead leads to the further contraction of already underfunded services.

The speaker is a strong proponent of the market economy and an opponent of socialism, criticizing excessive state intervention, subsidization, and high taxation (for example, taxing the oil shale industry out of existence). He opposes the growth of the state budget and the redistribution of GDP, which, in his view, stifles the economy and leads to deficits. The introduction of cheap labor is seen as a mechanism that shifts wealth from employees to capital.

Economic perspectives strongly support a significantly larger national investment in infrastructure and road maintenance, criticizing the road maintenance plan for being underfunded due to inflation. The speaker emphasizes that the revenue collected from fuel excise duties (521 million euros) should primarily be allocated to road construction and maintenance.