Greenland clenches the belt. The government reported that the income had dropped by half

The Greenland government has announced the need to save 864 billion Danish crowns over the next four years (about EUR 115 billion) to balance public finances. The territory depending on Denmark gained the attention of the world after the statements of the US President Donald Trump about the need to take over Greenland or buy it.

The Minister of Finance and former Prime Minister of Greenland Mute B. Egeded indicated as a reason for the difficult budget situation above all lower profits from fisheries, which is the main branch of the economy.

At the same time, we record a decrease by half state revenues and lower tax revenues. Social expenditure increases with the aging of society – emphasized Egeded in a statement.

The politician announced a tightening of social benefits regulations, including a reduction in the amount of benefit, if the unemployed refuses to accept the work proposed to him, as well as a pension reform. “Healthcare will be affected by cuts as little as possible,” Egeded promised.

In Greenland, social services are extremely expensive. The population lives in small fishing deposits, to which access is possible by air or sea. Greenland does not have its own doctors, and for foreign staff a flat in harsh climatic conditions is not attractive.

Other activities announced by the government include Increasing income and sealing the tax system.

Denmark, i.e. the state on which Greenland depends on, supplies about 40 percent. Greenland budget. The Government in Copenhagen transfers targeted subsidies, and also provides the island of internal security (police) and the presence of the armed forces.

In the spring, in the parliamentary election in Greenland, the Democraci party won, which is in favor of the island's independence from Denmark, but only after reaching economic independence from this country. The ruling coalition also included representatives of the party exercising power until 2025 – the left -wing group Inuit ataqatigiit (IA), to which the finance minister Egeded, and the social democratic Sumut party. The fourth party in the government is conservative Atassut. In the opposition there is only an isolated Postry Party, which is in favor of immediate announcement of sovereignty and supporting close cooperation with the USA.

Chairman of the Economic Council at the Greenland government, Danish prof. Torben M. Andersen, argued in June in a conversation with PAP that “the future of Greenland is uncertain due to fisheries' budget addiction, and in principle on fishing, halibut and cod, cash transfers (subsidies) from Denmark, as well as a decreasing population, low education of the local population and the difficult geography of the island.”

The expert then considered a chance to use natural resources, increasingly available as a result of climate change: mineral deposits, including rare lands and water energy. “In the case of raw materials, the potential is enormous, almost all minerals occur in Greenland. However, the question that the investor must ask for, sounds whether mining will be profitable. Before the company builds a mine, he must build a port, road or small airport, and maybe even a few houses” – emphasized the expert.

Another strategy, already implemented by the Greenland authorities, but also demanding investment, is the development of a tourist. Last year, an international airport was opened in the capital of Greenland, Nuuk.

At the beginning of the year, US President Donald Trump announced the need to take over Greenland several times. In April, the US Vice President JD Vance suggested in an interview with Newsmax that the United States could pay a lot more money to the inhabitants of Greenland than they are now from the government in Copenhagen.

Daniel Zyśk (PAP)

Zys/ Szm/