Lithuania govt to submit tax reform to parlt "no matter what" – PM

  • 2023-06-02
  • BNS/TBT Staff

VILNIUS - The Lithuanian government won't change its plans and will submit the tax reform to the Seimas, despite the initiatives to call an early parliament election and for the Cabinet to resign, Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte says.

"I believe the government will still submit (the tax reform - BNS) according to plan because practically all the bills we will be able to prepare by the end of the parliament session and that were supposed to be submitted by the end of the session are being put before the Seimas, no matter what, and the government is working. And I think it will be the same with the tax reform bills," the prime minister told reporters at the Seimas on Friday.

On Thursday, the Liberal Movement political group in the Seimas, which is part of the ruling block, said it would take a more moderate stance on the tax reform in the face of the ongoing political uncertainty. The group will "unconditionally support only those parts of the tax reform" that are necessary to secure funding from the European Commission and to implement the Recovery and Resilience Facility plan.

"I think what the Liberal Movement group said is the right approach in the sense that the state's interest in receiving full RRF funding is probably more important than other minor political disagreements. That is why, in principle, the entire tax package, except for the amendments to the VAT law, is about unlocking RRF funds. So, I hope that the Liberal Movement will keep its word and support the whole package accordingly," the prime minister said.