Grybauskaite pushes social support

VILNIUS - On Nov. 22, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite met with Minister of Finance Rimantas Sadzius where the president highlighted that the 2014 budget has to be socially sensitive, reports ELTA. Moreover, according to Grybauskaite, the budget for 2014 has to be the budget of the euro adoption as well.
According to Chief Advisor to the President Daiva Ulbinaite, Grybauskaite and Sadzius discussed living conditions in 2014, the harmonization of financial discipline and economic development as well as the implementation of strategic projects.

“The 2014 budget has to be socially oriented, fair and sensitive. Moreover, it has to be the budget of euro adoption,” said Ulbinaite.
According to Ulbinaite, one of the criteria for the 2014 budget as the budget of euro adoption was the keeping the fiscal deficit lower than 3 percent.

During the meeting, Grybauskaite highlighted that the growth of the economy should be felt by low-income people first and foremost. According to her, if there was money for returning to high salaries, there was a need to establish a plan for the restoration of reduced pensions as well.
Grybauskaite encouraged the government to search for the ways to improve the conditions for cultural and social workers.

“The economic growth allows Lithuania to have a more balanced budget in 2014; however, everything depends not only on the government’s ability to collect the planned budget, but on the smart and fair distribution of it as well,” said Ulbinaite.

Sadzius ascertained that the government was to strive for strict fiscal policy and to distribute expenditures in a way that would be encouraging to the growth of the economy. Moreover, Sadzius highlighted that the government was to make every effort so that fiscal policy would be as socially fair as possible.
According to the minister, it was forecast that the deficit of the state budget in 2013 was to reach 2.9 percent, while in 2014 it will be 1.9 percent of GDP.