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“As for the opening of other activities, as you see, we thought that we could make these decisions today, because last week the trends seemed optimistic,” said the prime minister.
He explained whether the number of new COVID-19 cases had fallen below 200 in 14 days per 100,000. population, “A government resolution would have been made differently, but it didn’t happen.”
“I am not going to speculate if this will happen in the first week of March, I would very much like it to happen, but it will also depend on what we see, if it is the start of a negative trend or some temporary stop,” he explained. Prime Minister.
“We could not discuss today, because the quarantine mitigation plan approved by us does not allow us to discuss it, because circumstances do not allow discussion,” explained I. Šimonytė.
Ingrida Šimonytė
The government also did not consider the liberation of cultural institutions in March at its meeting on Wednesday.
“We have more than 240 new cases today and that is why we have a few days, the situation is not improving. Today, we cannot say that these are the days, another issue and the institutions can begin to act, if we can make that decision today, ”says the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister assures that there was no promise to make decisions to open institutions or expand commercial areas; decisions will be possible when the situation improves.
“There is not much interest for the government in keeping as many activities closed as possible. The government only wants to protect the most vulnerable people as much as possible from the possibility of serious infections and diseases, and possibly even death, ”says I. Šimonytė.
Wait until more seniors get vaccinated
“I was hopeful and we all hoped that we could make more liberating decisions, but sadly so far we have a situation that some have described as deteriorating or third wave. I would assess the situation as a kind of traffic jam, “said I. Šimonytė.
He assured that it is difficult to talk about strategy in decision-making for a month.
“It just came to our knowledge then. Hopefully during March. At least the first vaccine will be given to most people over the age of 70. We know from sad experience that this is an age group that has a very high risk of dying from COVID-19 or getting seriously ill, ”explained the Prime Minister.
Tax reform will not take place in spring
Speaking about tax reform and the abolition of benefits, I. Šimonytė assured that the government will not propose any tax changes in the spring session. He stressed that a discussion was taking place, which is “excellent, very Lithuanian”, because as much as he intends to reduce benefits, he also intends to add new ones.
“I believe that the Ministry of Finance, having concentrated all its wisdom and its ability to find logical solutions, will present those decisions to the Government. The government does not have a numerical estimate of how much revenue should increase after the abolition of income incentives, ”said the Prime Minister.
He cautioned that the removal of part of the benefits would not necessarily have a linear budget impact, as more budget payments might be necessary.
“What I would like to see, if the proposals that I would like to see, if the benefits that will be proposed to leave will be logically justified, if the tax costs will not achieve a worse result than what we would obtain with direct budget subsidies,” I. Šimonytė explained ..
Speakers on Carriers: Balance Needed
According to I. Šimonytė, the question about carrier companies leaving Lithuania is “as old as the mobility package”.
“Naturally, due to the adoption of the mobility package, some companies are considering different ways of organizing their activities. The mobility package itself is being debated in the EU Court of Justice. What I would like to emphasize is that, in my opinion, it really is in Lithuania’s interest not to create such special conditions that allow us to constantly search for cheaper labor costs and offer our people to go to work in Western European countries. . There must be a reasonable balance between the regulation of activities and the social package offered to employees, ”said I. Šimonytė.
Speaking about the greater possibility of indebtedness for municipalities, I. Šimonytė pointed out that borrowing does not mean greater financial independence.
He said that he would agree that the municipalities would have more of their own financial resources through a higher proportion of the taxes they receive, but then we have to talk about a greater division of functions between the central and local government.
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