Šapoka is about a possible second wave of the coronavirus: we will not completely shut down the Lithuanian economy

“I encourage you to continue to constantly reduce the tax burden on those with the lowest incomes. In my opinion, next year’s budget without increasing the NPD to at least 450 euros is unthinkable,” the head of state said on Tuesday.

The president’s adviser, Vaidas Augustinavičius, said on Tuesday that Lithuania should increase the incomes of people with the lowest incomes and improve the situation of Lithuanian older people through more sustainable indexation of pensions.

The incomes of people with the lowest incomes can be increased by raising the NPD to 450 euros. According to the president’s adviser, this is what is most important to those who earn less, say they receive the greatest benefits.

Evaluating the president’s proposal to increase pensions and the NPD Finance Minister is in no hurry. It could only be cleared in the fall.

“The budget must be safe because we don’t know how long the economic and pandemic recession will last.” Several scenarios are currently being considered and lower scenarios should not be ruled out. We will present our evaluations in the fall.

“The budget will be really special because we are configuring it under conditions of great uncertainty.” Both this year and next year, state revenues have been reduced, so some of the spending will be financed with borrowed funds. We need to be very careful when spending funds. The debts must be paid in any case, “said the Minister of Finance.

“We will review all of the President’s evaluations and present our evaluations in the fall,” he said.

According to him, the situation is very uncertain. The Lithuanian economy is forecast to shrink by about 7 percent. The Minister notes that this is a reference scenario.

“We just realized that there would be no worse scenario. The Lithuanian economy will return to last year’s level only in 2022. The increase in any profit must be weighed, because much of it will be financed with borrowed funds,” V. Šapoka commented if You can expect an increase in benefits next year.

When asked if we have enough resources for the second wave of coronavirus, V. Šapoka points out that there are no considerations to shut down the entire Lithuanian economy.

“We had the first wave at the beginning, which was handled successfully. At the moment, we see that there are waves in several countries, there will also be a pandemic in Lithuania and the health system has adapted to this regime.

I do not think it is the correct way to close the economy again, because at the beginning it was necessary for us to manage the pandemic, it had to be closed so that the health system could be restructured. I have not heard such hypotheses from other ministers, even if they are hypothetical, even if the number of infections started to grow, full of deliberation, as was the case at the beginning, “says V. Šapoka.

Pensions should reach half the average salary in Lithuania

Speaking about increasing pensions at the time, Adviser to President V. Augustinavičius noted that pensions should reach 50% next year. of the average salary. According to him, this is the target value for the level of the average pension in Lithuania.

“The EU average is higher, around 60 percent. To achieve this indicator, the level of pensioners must approach the level of Western Europe, it is necessary to continuously, systematically and sustainably improve the situation of Lithuanian older people and therefore, in the opinion of the Lithuanian President, next year, sustainable increases in pensions should continue, V. Augustinavičius.

Next year, a certain level of economic recovery is forecast, so, according to the adviser, this is the right time to continue increasing pensions and improving the situation for retirees.

On Tuesday, the president announced that pensions could increase by 8 percent next year.

As V. Augustinavičius pointed out, 8 percent. It consists of two components: 6 percent. pensions should increase by 2% if pension indexation continues. It is an additional consecrated pension increase that was proposed by the President last year.

“So we have 8% in total, that is, and the multi-annual indexation of pensions and the additional increase proposed by the President last year and adopted by Seimas,” said the President’s Advisor.

Delphi recalls that the president said on Tuesday that next year’s budget should combat social exclusion and strengthen the education system.

“Next year’s budget should be a budget for economic transformation that will help Lithuania emerge stronger from the crisis, to make progress in priority areas of the economy.” It is also important not to lose sight of the country’s long-standing problems: fight against social exclusion and strengthen the educational system. The state budget, in my opinion, should convey the vision of the welfare state. I presented such proposals to the Prime Minister, ”G. Nausėda is quoted in the Presidency report.

According to the President, the priority objective of the newly formed budget is to improve the quality of life of the population group: the elderly, who are at greater risk of poverty and exclusion.

He also emphasized that pension indexation should continue next year as the economy recovers, including the additional pension increase introduced last year.

“Qualitative aging is not just about pensions, but also the need for an active and meaningful old age, so the development of new services for older people is also a prerequisite for next year’s budget,” he said.

G. Nausėda recommends that in preschool, the positions of educational support specialists be created, and that additional education services reach families at risk more effectively.

“This is very important to reduce social inequalities in education, improve children’s achievement in the regions. At the same time, we must look towards the economic model of the 21st century, on the basis of which we must double public investment in research and experimental development, ”said the president.

The President emphasized the importance of investing in security and defense. In line with the need to strengthen defense and the party’s agreement, it is proposed to keep defense spending (€ 1 billion) unchanged next year compared to 2020.

The President also noted the need to pay more attention to the management of abandoned cultural heritage and the need to maintain at least 7-8%. next year to raise wages for cultural and arts workers, who are currently among the lowest in the public sector.