…Parliament meanwhile holds first reading of 2010 budget plan.

Meanwhile MPs on the Parliamentary Budget Committee have had their first discussion of the Finance Ministry’s proposed budget for next year and recommended the plan to Parliament. The proposal now awaits a first reading in the lower house, which is scheduled for October 21. The Ministry’s budget proposal foresees a 163-billion-crown deficit – a reduction from earlier estimates made possible by an austerity package approved by Parliament last month.