HELSINKI — Finland on Wednesday said the Nordic country’s trailblazing basic income experiment is going ahead as planned, denying media reports that the trial has fallen flat. Continuation of the unique trial may well become a political hot potato ahead of the April 2019 election, Simanainen said. “It’s up to the new government to decide whether to experiment further with basic income,” Simanainen said, adding that several government and opposition parties support the basic income trial. Simanainen said recent media reports that the government social affairs agency has requested up to 70 million euros ($109 million) in extra funding this year are false. The plan was initially agreed in 2016 by the three-party coalition government led by Sipila’s centrist Center Party.

Source: National Post April 26, 2018 15:56 UTC