Latvia's budget situation not too great at the moment - Silina

RIGA - Latvia's budget situation is not too great at the moment, Prime Minister Evika Silina (New Unity) said in an interview with TV3 Wednesday morning.

According to Silina, the budget situation is complicated in many European countries due to various external circumstances, and the European Union also requires budgetary discipline.

Silina hopes that the decision of the European Central Bank to cut interest rates will have a positive impact on the budgetary situation.

Asked about possible tax increases in Latvia, Silina said that the task force on taxes had produced a lot of ideas after long discussions, and the challenge now was to understand what was needed and what was possible.

However, there have been no official decisions on the matter in the government or at the coalition level, said Silina.

As reported, Finance Minister Arvils Aseradens (New Unity) said last week that one of the ways to cover the potentially growing defense spending was to increase the value added tax rate by one percentage point. Silina denied any such plans.