Lithuanian budget to go for debate on Oct. 28

Oct 20, 2008
TBT Staff in cooperation with BNS

"The morning session on Tuesday next week will be devoted entirely to the presentation of the draft budget and accompanying legal amendments," Ceslovas Jursenas, the speaker of the Seimas (Lithuania's parliament), told lawmakers on Monday.

The budget, which will include a nearly 3 percent deficit, has received harsh from both local and EU officials.

"No way [it should be signed]," EU Commissioner for Financial Programming and Budget Dalia Grybauskaite told the Baltic News Service after a meeting with President Valdas Adamkus.

"I gained solid experience during the critical situation in 1999 and 2000 when all public expenditures were trimmed. By more than 10 percent, and not just 5 percent. Such reserves do exist. The authorities should buy less limousines and should rather think and balance the appetites of individual departments with the economic and fiscal policy, financial resources. They should start there instead of doing harm to people," Grybauskaite said.

The government last Friday sent to the parliament a draft 2009 national budget which envisages that next year's expenditures will exceed revenues by 2.64 billion litas (0.87 billion euros) and targets a fiscal deficit of almost 3 percent of GDP.

As to the draft, the revenues of the national budget (the central government plus municipal budgets), including the EU funds, will total 30.199 billion litas in 2009, up 2.7 percent from the revenue amount envisaged for 2008. Budget appropriations are seen growing by 2.43 billion litas, to 32.838 billion litas.

The Finance Ministry projects that the country's economy will grow by 1.5 percent next year.

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