Latvija in brief - 2011-03-03

  • 2011-03-02

The number of needy residents in Latvia reached 178,251 this past January, according to the Welfare Ministry’s report, writes LETA. The number of people below the poverty line has increased, compared to December 2010, when there were 172,855 people with low incomes. Altogether, 1.8 million lats (2.5 million euros) was spent from the state budget on the guaranteed minimum income and 1.5 million lats on apartment allowances. 120,076 people received social benefits. The number of residents with low income in Latvia increased by about 69,700 last year, and as a result, the total number of recipients of guaranteed minimum income increased by approximately 40,200, and recipients of apartment benefits by approximately 19,900. A total of 89.7 million lats was spent from the state budget and European Union funds for implementation of the social security network strategy.

Under what amounts to a ‘Working Grandpa’ scheme, the government has evaluated the sustainability of the social budget, and does not exclude the possibility that the retirement age could reach 70 years, Finance Minister Andris Vilks (Unity), DnB Nord Bank’s economic expert Peteris Strautins and Welfare Ministry’s Deputy State Secretary Ingus Alliks said during a debate organized by the business portal Nozare.lv. Alliks pointed out that part of the measures that must be carried out to improve the social budget’s sustainability have already been approved by the government and submitted for review in Saeima. The retirement age was set inadequately low when the retirement system was being developed, say experts. The government has already decided that the retirement age will be gradually increased by half a year from Jan. 1, 2016. The possibility of early retirement may also be revoked, said Vilks. The increase is a long-term solution. It is most likely, however, that it will not be possible to balance it with all the suggested measures in the next few years, said Strautins.

The number of state-financed slots in Latvian higher education institutions will be reduced by 10 percent, or 600, as of Sept. 1, Education and Science Minister Rolands Broks (Union of Greens and Farmers) said in an interview on the LNT morning show ‘900 sekundes’ on Feb. 24, reports LETA. At the moment there are 6,000 state-financed slots in higher education institutions. According to Broks, the number of state-financed slots will most likely be cut in social sciences and engineering sciences. This means that the revenue of higher education institutions will drop. However, fewer state-financed slots cannot be used as an excuse to close the institutions, emphasized Broks. He said that the Finance Ministry’s consolidation will not affect the number of higher education institutions, only the number of state-financed slots. Seventy percent of Latvian students already pay for their studies.