The subsequent budget freeze for science was greeted with relief, given that most education budgets were severely cut.

The extra expenditure from next year breaks a defence budget freeze that was capped at €31.4 billion a year in 2013.

He campaigned on a budget freeze, a ten percent flat tax and a line-item veto.

But a budget freeze can have other- often unintended- consequences.

A budget freeze can have political implications, especially in the case of the government, but also where businesses are concerned.