Seimas members are considering the state budget for next year

Mykolas Majauskas, president of the Budget and Finance Committee of the Seimas, said that the draft will be returned to the Government along with all the proposals of the parliamentarians and other committees.

“I hope that in the future we will find more time and political will not only to look at all the proposals in a formal and procedural way, but that the committee will do its duty and review the proposals in detail, decide whether to accept or not,” he said.

M. Majauskas also drew attention to the conclusions presented by the State Audit Office in relation to the task of structural momentum, the conclusions, comments and proposals of the Bank of Lithuania.

“The Audit Committee also took note of the decisions made by the Constitutional Court, which may require adjustments to the laws on fixed financing programs,” he added.

Candidate Comments

Gintarė Skaistė, the proposed finance minister candidate at the meeting, said that when it comes to the budget, things that are not or should not be in it should be taken into account.

“Regarding the expenses included, the budget lacks the provisions of the approved laws. This is an additional indexation of pensions proposed at the initiative of the President, in which 72 million budgets are missing from both the state and Sodra. euros.

Amendments were adopted on the recalculation of early retirement pensions so that the pension is not reduced after age 40, the early retirement coefficient was modified, which is also not foreseen for 9.5 million LTL. euros.

We note the abundance of proposals from the Education Commission, as well as the Association of Municipalities, that aid to education, although the law has been approved, lacks 28 million. euro, ”he said.

G. Skaistė also said that when it comes to the situation in Covid-19, the pandemic will not end as of the new year, and the costs of downtime and sickness benefits will need to be included in the plan.

“The previous administration proposes that this be done with borrowed funds and it is not included in the budget proposal at all.” This plan seems wrong to me simply because the projected budget deficit will be completely different, “he said.

The Seimas member also pointed out that in terms of income from the European Union Resuscitation Fund, according to the project, in 2021 it is planned to spend a third of its funds allocated to Lithuania.

“If that urgency is justified, if the quality of the projects will be such that it changes the DNA of the economy, if these projects can be implemented in such a short period of time, there are doubts,” said G. Skaistė.

He noted that the costs of the so-called Recovery and Resilience Service (RRF) have not yet been approved and may still change.

“Therefore, the costs that we anticipate may not be eligible. So we should finance them with borrowed funds, which would not be a very desirable option,” he said.

Finally, G. Skaistė noted that there are also risks related to revenue collection.

“The Finance Ministry anticipates that around 25 percent will remain unpaid. Deferred taxes. It also predicts that they will be collected in the coming years, but there are doubts whether companies will rush to pay those taxes in 2021,” he said.

See similarities with 2008

Algirdas Sysas, the eldest of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party faction, said he sees similarities with the times of the previous crisis.

“While the Queen was singing, ‘The Show Must Go On’ (Delphi). I also remember reading the 2008 budget and some similarities emerge. Conservatives are leading the way again. the person acting is a coronavirus, so the environment is a bit different, ”he said.

Sys said it expected the new government to be unconstitutional this time.

“I’m glad to hear that he won’t tighten his belt,” he said.

The next project consideration at the Seimas is scheduled for December 17. It is expected to be adopted shortly thereafter.

At its last meeting, the Seimas Budget and Finance Committee, elected in 2016, concluded its consideration of next year’s state budget and approved proposals for 631.73 million LTL. euros. However, the new government headed by I. Šimonytė will have the last word on its implementation.

The project presented by the Government of Saulius Skvernelis foresees that in 2021 11.38 billion will be collected in the state budget. 150 million euros of revenue. EUR or 1.26%. less than planned this year. Spending next year is estimated to be $ 15.49 billion. 271 million euros. EUR or 21.22%. more than planned this year.

The budget deficit in 2021 could reach 4.11 billion. and be equal to 5%. gross domestic product. In 2021, the government plans to borrow about 5.14 billion. euros. Public debt in 2021 should reach 50.2 percent.