Latvian government cancels Christmas

RIGA 's The Latvian government has announced plans to cancel all Christmas parties and greeting cards in an effort to cut back on public spending ahead of the New Year.

The plan also includes forbidding business trips and premiums. The government has already said it would disallow any holiday bonuses.

To reduce budget expenditures at the end of the year, the only business trips that can be allowed are those in which the institution needs to voice its opinion or participation in the event has been made mandatory. Trips to seminars, conferences, training and experience exchange trips will be fully banned, unless the host covers 50 percent of expenses or expenses are covered by the European Union (EU) funds or other foreign financial assistance resources.

State institutions will not bee allowed to organize Christmas parties for state budget resources, and Christmas and New Year greeting cards will have to be sent in an electronic form.

Under the plan, in December expenditures to main budget of ministries and central state administration institutions may not exceed one twelfth of expenditures planned for the whole 2008. If there are objective reasons for exceeding this limit, a detailed explanation has to be submitted to the finance minister by November 28.

Revenues to state budget institutions are declining considerably due to the rapid economic downfall in Latvia, and the government has to decide on spending cuts to avoid a large budget deficit.