Estonia Passes 2011 Budget With Deficit Planned at 1.6% of GDP

Estonian lawmakers passed the 2011 central government budget, keeping the planned deficit below the European Union’s 3 percent ceiling in the year the Baltic nation adopts the euro.

The 101-member parliament, or Riigikogu, voted 55-32 today in favor of the plan, which increases spending by 5 percent to 6 billion euros ($7.9 billion), or 1.6 percent of gross domestic product, up from 1.4 percent this year, according to the Tallinn-based parliament’s website. The overall fiscal deficit including local governments and social security funds is also planned at 1.6 percent of GDP, the Finance Ministry said in a separate statement.