Finnish ruling coalition agrees 2024 budget with deficit set to rise

Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo speaks during the session of the Finnish Parliament in Helsinki, Finland on Wednesday, 6th Sep., 2023. Finnish parliament debated of government's anti-racism policy. Lehtikuva/via REUTERS/File photo

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finland's ruling centre-right coalition has agreed on a 2024 budget bill that will see the government deficit widen 35% to 11.5 billion euros ($12.28 billion) next year, Finance Minister Riikka Purra said on Tuesday.

The coalition bill set out total spending of 87.9 billion euros next year, compared to the 80.5 billion euros originally estimated for 2023 in the previous Social Democrat-led government's last full budget.