Perling calls for spending freeze and pension indexation pause

Lavly Perling, leader of the Parempoolsed political party, says Estonia must stop living at the expense of future generations, calling for a freeze on state spending and a pause in pension indexation. She made the remarks on ERR’s “First Studio” programme.

Perling said state spending should be frozen at its 2026 level and Parliament should reject the state budget it is currently discussing. She also called for tax cuts and structural reforms to improve public finances and leave more money with people and businesses.

Perling said state expenditure had risen from 16.8 billion euros to 20 billion euros in three years, disputing claims that cuts had been made. She added that the state spends five million euros more each day than it receives in revenue and said public debt was on an unsustainable path.

She argued that public spending must be reduced and economic growth kept in focus, saying growth was essential to improving people’s living standards and purchasing power and to businesses’ competitiveness. She said state debt, taxes and the gap between spending and revenue were all increasing.

Parempoolsed is the only party, Perling said, that pledges to pause pension indexation if it comes to power. She estimated the measure would save hundreds of millions of euros in the state budget, while saying the amount deposited into any pensioner’s account would not decrease.

Parempoolsed aims to enter the next Parliament, according to polling cited by ERR. Perling said the party wants to give people more freedom and reduce taxes. Social Democrats, by contrast, believe everyone should contribute more, while Parempoolsed says the public sector should scale back.