Agreement reached on financing for Government’s investment programme

Agreement reached on financing for Government's investment programme

A key objective of the Government Programme was to ensure that the central government does not incur more debt during the current parliamentary term as a result of the Government's investment programme. This objective is being achieved as planned.

Following the spring 2026 spending limits discussion, the Government's investment programme now totals approximately EUR 4.7 billion. The financing plan drawn up by the Ownership Steering Department involved using annual dividend income exceeding the baseline, dismantling the overcapitalisation and excess liquidity of companies, possible company restructurings and the sale of shares in listed companies. In the earlier part of the parliamentary term, the investment programme was financed through revenue recognised from the National Housing Fund, among other sources.

With the expansion of the investment programme, the amount to be financed with income from assets has increased to EUR 3.5 billion. In 2024 and 2025, the amount of funds generated from assets for the investment programme totalled EUR 1.2 billion.

The goal for 2026 has been to finance the investment programme using the licence fee for Veikkaus' exclusive rights and capital repayments from VR Group Plc.

Several options were identified to cover the remaining needs with respect to both the source and timing of the funding. The aim was to find a balanced solution to finance the investment programme so that part of the costs would be realised beyond the current parliamentary term.

As part of the solution, Solidium Oy will transfer around EUR 400 million in Sampo Plc A shares to the State before the end of the year. The State will transfer the shares to the State Pension Fund by year's end.

The legislation on the State Pension Fund will be updated to increase the amount transferred from the fund to the Budget, meaning that the fund will balance central government pension expenditure more than in the previous plan. As a result, the transfers from the fund to the Budget will be approximately EUR 1,000 million higher in 2027-2037 than in the previous plan.

In addition, Solidium announced on 23 September 2026 that it had sold 70 million Sampo Plc A shares, or around 2.6 per cent of Sampo's outstanding shares, valued at EUR 630 million. Of this, an estimated EUR 500 million, including the taxes arising from the transaction, will be used to finance the investment programme.

"We have found a balanced financing solution for the investment programme. The measures we have taken will cover the share to be financed with income from central government assets, meaning that the central government will not need to sell more shares in its listed companies," said Maija Strandberg, Director General of the Ownership Steering Department at the Prime Minister's Office.

Inquiries:
Maija Strandberg, Director General, Ownership Steering Department, Prime Minister's Office, tel. +358 50 407 8423
Mika Niemelä, Director General, Budget Department, Ministry of Finance, tel. +358 29 553 0525

The email addresses of the Finnish Government are in the format [email protected]