Finnish parliament parties agree to restrict funding investments through state asset sales

A cross-party parliamentary working group has reached an agreement to limit the use of state asset sales for financing public investments, according to a consensus document obtained by Yle.

The group concluded that Finland’s fiscal maneuvering room is constrained by EU financial rules and the excessive deficit procedure, making it difficult to rely on revenue from asset sales to fund investments. Going forward, state investments should “in principle” be financed through increased revenue or reduced expenditure rather than asset sales.

The consensus document is set to be published Wednesday morning. The Left Alliance, which participated in the working group but remains outside the debt brake agreement, submitted a dissenting opinion.

The restriction stems from EU regulations and reduces the flexibility of future governments. The parliamentary agreement on the debt brake already stated that public finances should not be artificially improved through asset sale revenues, and that the working group would define an “acceptable scope” for their use.

Previous governments, including Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s administration, have financed investments through asset sales. Orpo’s coalition had planned to fund a €4 billion investment program entirely through proceeds from state asset sales.