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The first jobs to be done by the candidate for Minister of Finance G.Skaistė – Budget review 2021. Conservative interview 15 minutes stated he had questions about the income and expense line.
“We see subsidies for costs that are not budgeted, due to COVID-19 funding for downtime, subsidies. There is no full budget for these measures in next year’s budget. Although it is obvious that COVID-19 is not over. with the new year ”, said the candidate for ministers.
According to her, there are no funds and an additional indexation of pensions, which was adopted last year. There is also a shortage of tens of millions of euros in aid to education.
Photo by Julius Kalinskas / 15min / Amber Skaistė
“The first jobs are to review what is actually not planned, and maybe put together and review the revenue plan, which is a bit optimistic,” said G.Skaistė.
The first jobs are to review what is really not planned and maybe put an end to it and review the income plan, which is a bit optimistic, – said G.Skaistė.
When asked if this means that the budget deficit in 2021 could also increase, the politician did not draw a red line. According to her, the Ministry of Finance provides for 5 percent. GDP deficit of public finances next year, the National Audit Office – 5.7 percent, the Bank of Lithuania, after assessing various risks – 6-7 percent.
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“The uncertainty is so great that it is very difficult to say what the budget deficit will be. Those risks are very real: COVID-19 will definitely need funding. Obviously, this will likely increase the budget deficit. If at least half of the funds used last year were needed, the budget deficit would already grow by 0.7%. It is forecast that it will definitely be higher than 5%, but saying how much is already difficult enough today, ”said the politician.
In his opinion, even though some expenditures would increase the budget deficit, they make sense today.
“Without those costs, the consequences would be much worse: job losses, more unemployment and an emerging economy. You need to evaluate the alternative all the time: how severe the budget deficit is and how bad it would be if funds were not allocated. Today, preserving employment is our priority ”, he emphasized.
Income to budget is projected less
Speaking of budget revenue, G.Skaistė sees two risks. She predicts that tax revenue will be collected less than planned.
According to the calculations of the Ministry of Finance, 25% of deferred taxes. will not be charged, and 75 percent. collected in one to three years. Meanwhile, current conditions allow taxes to be deferred for two to five years.
“In our opinion, the current forecast of how much will be collected from tax revenue is optimistic,” thinks G.Skaistė.
The second risk is related to the DNA plan, although the political agreement on the European Union’s Economic Recovery and Resilience Fund (Recovery Y Resilience Facility) is that there are no specific decisions about how that money will be allocated.
“Revenues are tied to budget, so there is a risk that expenses will be incurred and funds not allocated due to changes in priorities or other things. Safeguards need to be assessed and implemented so that costs are incurred when it is clear that funds will be available, ”said the candidate for finance minister.
Aims to reduce income inequality
G.Skaistė highlighted reducing income inequality and opportunities as long-term priorities, paying special attention to the most socially vulnerable groups: children living in families at social risk, single mothers and single retirees.
The second priority is the transformation of the economic model towards the creation of greater added value, so that in the long term the wages of all Lithuanians are higher, emigration decreases and all EU investments bring greater added value and are not exceeded.
123RF.com/Mokesčiai
The third priority is the clarity, stability, predictability and fairness of the tax system.
“This would allow companies to plan investments more efficiently and calmly in the long term, reduce incentives to avoid taxes and reduce shadow,” Skista said.
In his opinion, it is necessary to change the tax system to increase the income of the population, but the policy emphasizes that it is not planned to do so next year.
And in the future, I would like to have a broad discussion with experts on how the tax system should be changed. G.Skaistė hinted that benefits that do not add value to the economy or people should be abandoned, and horizontal and more uniform taxes should be pursued.
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However, the candidate for finance minister has not yet detailed what the tax system itself should look like.
“I don’t think we are really discussing raising tax rates,” hinted the ministerial candidate.
G.Skaistė, 39, who has a doctorate in economics, studied at the Technological Universities of Mykolas Romeris and Kaunas.
G.Skaistė has been a member of the Lithuanian Christian Democratic Party of the National Union since 2005, in 2007-2016 he was a member of the Kaunas Council. G. Skaitė was elected to the Seimas for the first time in 2016, where she served on the Social Affairs and Labor and Budget and Finance Committees during the previous term.
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