On December 15th parliament passed on the third and final reading a constitutional amendment that will require a referendum to be held if the government decides to increase taxes (although local taxes and excise duties are excluded). However, the amendment has been modified significantly since it was first conceived by the president, Mikheil Saakashvili, in October 2009 (December 2009, Economic policy). Unlike the original draft, the adopted version will specify a set of circumstances under which the government will be able to increase taxes without calling a referendum. In addition, specific deficit and debt limits will be set up. The toning down of approved legislation reflects concerns by domestic and multilateral organisation, such as the IMF. Concerns were raised that by restricting its own capacity to raise taxes, the government risked depriving itself of an important tool to plug the fiscal deficit. Moreover, the amendment will only become law when other new constitutional provisions enter into force in 2013.