“In my opinion, the Prime Minister is misleading from the podium of the Saeima. When government representatives — the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance — say that 170 million euros have been saved, what exactly do they mean?” — noted on air on TV24 former Minister of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, economist, and co-chairman of the party ‘Attīstībai/Par!’ Juris Puce.
“Next year, the expenditure part of the Latvian state budget will be one and a half billion euros more than this year. So what has been saved? We have increased expenses!”
He explained: “Of these one and a half billion, the increase in defense spending amounts to 300 million euros. 1.2 billion is for other expenses, good or bad, that the government has decided to allocate. That is additional spending! If you transfer five euros from one pocket to another — that’s not savings.”
According to the politician, this is not a budget of savings — the deficit is still large. Even without considering the increase in defense spending, total expenses are still rising.
Puce reminded that if expenses grow faster than income, the country digs itself deeper into debt: “Five years ago, Latvia paid 0.1% per annum on state debt, now it’s 4-5%! Soon it will be 6-7%! Already next year, just the interest on the debt will cost us 700 million euros!”
As an opposition representative, he calls for a regime of savings: expenditure growth is only permissible when there are funds available. “We do not count defense — that’s a special case. But for all other areas, expenses should not increase. The residents will understand this. Lithuania has already understood, Estonia has understood — but Ms. Silina is just proud!”
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