The Ministry of Finance's bill of amendments to the State Budget Act, now cleared through coordination rounds and on the government's desk, aims to reduce parliamentary constraints on ministries, giving them more freedom to manage allocated funds.

The bill contains numerous changes beyond the shift in control. It would raise Estonia's allowed budget deficit, adopt requirements added through a European Union directive and revise budget classifications in a way the Ministry of Finance says could make the budget clearer.

This year's state budget presented ministry lines in broad, activity-focused terms, while the appendix provided detailed breakdowns for subordinate institutions.

The ministry now wants to bring part of that detailed view into the budget itself, though the level of detail would be reduced.

Currently, the 2025 budget appendix shows each institution's expense structure over time — wages, operational, financial, grants and other costs — but the future budget would show only total expenses per institution, without breakdowns, and classify costs by result areas.

Using its own sector as an example, the Ministry of Finance showed that after the changes, ministers could reallocate funds within programs without altering total spending.

This means that midyear shifts — like the Ministry of Climate moving rural housing renovation funds to cover ministry salaries — would no longer need separate parliamentary approval, easing the Riigikogu's workload.  

Ministries would still be required to publish budget updates on their websites.

The bill also limits the government reserve to 3 percent of total spending and would allow the budget to be amended up to two months after the fiscal year ends if audits reveal costs were recorded in the wrong budget year.

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