2022 budget expenditure projected to increase by EUR 833 million

RIGA - State consolidated budget expenditure next year is projected at EUR 11.886 billion, which is EUR 833 million more than previously anticipated, according to the Finance Ministry's information on the 2022 state budget presented at the National Tripartite Cooperation Council's meeting on Monday.

In turn, the 2022 budget's tax revenue is projected at EUR 10.225 billion, which is EUR 236 million more than the government planned last year while working on the medium-term budget.

The Law on the Medium-Term Budget Framework for 2021, 2022 and 2023 stipulated that the state consolidated budget expenditure in 2022 could be EUR 11.053 billion, while according to the Finance Ministry's latest data, budget expenditure in 2022 could amount to EUR 11.886 billion.

The updated general budget expenditure projection is EUR 8.741 billion, EUR 668.1 million more projected last year.

The Finance Ministry explains that the changes in the general budget expenditure are due to the cost of Covid-19 vaccination campaign, projected at EUR 104.9 million, EUR 97.8 million earmarked for high-readiness projects, EUR 90.9 million for family benefits, and EUR 14.5 million for stabilizing the situation at the Latvian-Belarusian border.

The 2022 general budget expenditure projection has also been increased due to state co-financing in the amount of EUR 316.8 million that will be allocated for implementation of the European Union' Recovery and Resilience Fund projects. In turn, EUR 22.4 million will be allotted for cooperation projects of the Education and Science Ministry, and EUR 10.9 million will be allocated to the Transport Ministry for implementation of the Rail Baltica project.

State special budget expenditure in 2022 is projected at EUR 3.387 billion, an increase of EUR 160.9 million on last year's projection. The increase is due to an additional EUR 77.3 million for pensions, EUR 56.6 million for sickness benefits, EUR 15.4 million for unemployment benefits, EUR 7.1 million for parental benefits and EUR 200,000 for disability pensions.