Latvia's Stability Program to be submitted to Saeima by end of April

RIGA - The Saeima on Wednesday passed in the final reading amendments to the Law on Budget and Financial Management, which stipulate that this year, the Cabinet of Ministers must submit Latvia's Stability Program or medium-term fiscal and structural plan to the Saeima by April 30.

The amendments, proposed by the Finance Ministry, are intended to establish a transitional framework for 2024, as the previous framework had set April 15 as the submission deadline.

While preparing the Stability Program, the government will also take into account information available from the European Union (EU) institutions.

The annotation to the amendments indicate that, in line with the reform of the economic governance framework aimed at ensuring sound and sustainable public finances while promoting sustainable and inclusive growth and job creation in all member states through reforms and investment, the European Commission (EC) published in 2023 a proposal for an EU regulation on effective coordination of economic policies and multilateral budgetary surveillance, which will repeal the regulation on budgetary surveillance and strengthening of surveillance and coordination of economic policies.

The European Parliament's final vote on the regulation is tentatively scheduled for the end of April 2024. The regulation will enter into force after the conclusion of the legislative procedure, provisionally at the end of April or early May.

The regulation foresees that instead of the current annual Stability Program (three-year forecasting period), the bloc's member states will draw up a medium-term fiscal and structural plan every four years and submit it to the EC by the end of April. The fiscal-structural plan (four-year forecasting period) will in future replace not only the current Stability and Convergence Programs, but also reports on the National Reform Program.