At the end of April, the deficit of Latvia's consolidated budget amounted to 137.5 million euros — significantly less than a year ago. Revenue growth has been noticeably faster than expenditure growth, and there are currently no serious risks of exceeding the budget plan.
The Fiscal Discipline Council reported that by the end of April this year, the deficit of Latvia's consolidated general budget amounted to 137.5 million euros.
For comparison, a year ago during the same period, the deficit reached 777.5 million euros. Thus, the gap between revenues and expenditures has narrowed almost sixfold.
The main reason for the improvement in the situation was the rapid growth of budget revenues. Over the year, they increased by 14%, or 764.5 million euros.
Notably, revenues from the European Union grew by 65.7%, bringing in nearly 400 million euros in additional income.
Meanwhile, state expenditures grew much more slowly — only by 2%, or 124.5 million euros.
The most significant increase in expenditures was recorded in capital investments — which rose by almost a third. This is usually associated with infrastructure projects, construction, and investments.
In fact, the first months of the year show that the government is currently spending even slightly less than planned.
According to the budget plan, expenditures for the first four months were supposed to amount to about 6.6 billion euros. In reality, 6.4 billion was spent — approximately 211 million less than forecasted.
The Fiscal Discipline Council believes that at this point, there are no signs that the annual expenditure plan could be significantly exceeded.
For ordinary residents, such indicators are important primarily because the budget deficit directly affects future taxes, the government's ability to borrow money, and the volume of funds for social payments, healthcare, and infrastructure.
However, the current situation does not mean that financial pressure has disappeared. A significant part of the improvement is related to the inflow of European funds, rather than solely to internal economic growth.
In total, the expenditures of the consolidated general budget for 2026 are planned at 20.9 billion euros.
In the first four months, the government has already received 32.6% of the annual revenue plan and spent 30.5% of the planned funds.
