Riga City Council decides to increase budget expenditure by nearly EUR 150 million

  • 2023-03-23
  • LETA/TBT Staff

RIGA - Riga City Council on Wednesday decided to amend the municipal budget by increasing expenditure by nearly EUR 150 million. 

As a result, the Latvian capital city's budget revenue will grow by EUR 13.8 million to EUR 1.19 billion, while expenditure will grow by EUR 148.6 million to EUR 1.4 billion.

Consequently, Riga's budget expenditure will this year exceed revenue by slightly less than EUR 212. The local government expects to cover the deficit from the money left over in the budget at the beginning of this year and with loans.

Riga City Council passed the municipal budget on January 25, projecting revenue to grow by more than EUR 140 million against 2022. This, however, was an interim or technical budget. 

On Wednesday, March 22, members of the city council adopted amendments to the city's 2023 budget that were drafted after the adoption of Latvia's 2023 budget. 

The EUR 1.192 billion budget revenue Riga expects to make this year would be EUR 196 million larger than the budget revenue planned for 2022. This year, budget revenue from personal income tax is expected to grow by EUR 172 million, based on the Finance Ministry's forecasts. 

The EUR 1.404 billion budget expenditure planned for this year would be EUR 249 million larger than last year. The local government plans to cover the difference between revenue and expenditure with surplus money accumulated in 2022. 

The largest financing this year - EUR 465 million - has been earmarked in the municipal budget for education, EUR 361 million have been earmarked for transport, EUR 173 for social security, EUR 74 million for housing, EUR 40 million for culture and sports and EUR 8 million for the environment. Riga's contribution to the financial equalization fund has grown significantly this year, to EUR 125 million.