The government is proposing a budget increase of 230 million euros to cover the immigration costs due to the large influx of asylum seekers. The funds would be earmarked for reception centre operations, improving the integration process and benefits such as housing subsidies and labour market supports.
The proposal is part of this year's second supplementary budget proposal, which is to be presented to Parliament a week from now on May 26.
Other planned extra expenditures include about 50 million euros in municipal support for those caring for close relatives at home as well as 7.4 million euros in crisis management costs to extend a training programme in the Kurdish area of northern Iraq. There are now about 50 Finnish soldiers there training local forces, a number that is to increase to around 100 by September.
No decision on Talvivaara yet
The cabinet has not yet discussed supplementary funding for the embattled Talvivaara mining company, which was taken over by a state-owned company last year. A decision on that was delayed because Minister of Economic Affairs Olli Rehn is on an official trip to Japan until Friday. That hot-button issue will be discussed next Wednesday by the ministerial committee on economic affairs. The embattled Talvivaara mining company was taken over by a state-owned company last August following a string of toxic leaks. It has since been burning cash at a faster-than-expected rate.
