Leftist-Green MP Lilja Mósesdóttir has resigned her seat from a parliamentary work group on the budget, due to dissatisfaction with the emphasis on budget cuts.
Lilja told RÚV that the purpose of the group had been given too narrow a definition, and that they were asked to come up with ideas only with regards to cutting the budget, as opposed yo ways of diverting funds or creating revenue.
She added that it was unfortunate that Björn Valur Gíslason, another Leftist-Green MP, had introduced the group’s tax bill to parliament before the ruling coalition as a whole had a chance to discuss it.
Handling the budget is likely the single greatest task that paliament faces. Raising taxes is always wildly unpopular, but so are budget cuts. On top of this is the added pressure from the International Monetary Fund to reduce spending. The recent volcanic eruption has created some jobs, in hiring people to help clean up farms affected by ash fall, but this is naturally only a temporary solution.
Nonetheless, the economy shows signs of recovery. Unemployment is slowly falling, Moody’s recently raised Iceland’s rating to stable, and the IMF has also given the government positive reviews, saying that they believe the budget will be completely balanced by 2014.