"Indeed we have assumed that it is good practice that tax rulings must be adopted six months before they enter into force. Yes, there is a limit to the introduction of new taxes. When we in the government decided today to send these things to the state parliament, we have calculated this procedure in such a way that it should be adopted before Midsummer [June], before the state parliament goes to summer meetings with the electorate, so yes, we cannot fit more into that timeframe," said Kallas at the government's weekly press conference.

Asked if the government will reduce the deficit with cuts, Kallas said no decisions have been made yet.

"At times, it seems to me that we have made a mistake in informing the public that we hold these meetings every month. We will make decisions in August. The reason we have these meetings is to reach better agreements in August. But we will reach agreement in August. This is our internal working procedure. Of course, we will keep going through the things that could still be done. But ultimately we need to get the whole picture together by August and we are working towards that," she said.

"If we fail to fill these gaps, our deficit will be higher than promised. And if our deficit is higher than allowed, an infringement procedure will follow.  But we still have time. And really, never before has it been done in such a way that this national budget and the budget strategy are discussed every month so that we can come to considered decisions, so that we can take the steps beforehand so that in August we can build this national budget and national budget strategy on a firmer foundation," added Kallas, leader of the Reform Party.

Tsahkna: Very difficult decisions are coming

Eesti 200 chairman and Minister of Foreign Affairs Margus Tsahkna said politicians and society are not aware of how serious the situation is.

"Certainly one of the things we have discussed is cost savings. How that is going to be done is another question and the final decisions will be made in August," he said.

"Very tough decisions are coming. There is no silver bullet coming from anywhere. And this coalition is, in my view, capable of making those decisions, even if we have differences of opinion. When the SDE says it wants tax increases, we say we don't want tax increases, let's look at other measures first," said Tsahkna.

The minister pointed out that in Finland, the government is currently discussing lowering pensions which is something the coalition does not want to resort to.

He said talking about the situation and trying to find a way forward throughout the year is a better solution than waiting until August.

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