State to keep co-funding municipal benefits during Covid-19 crisis

RIGA - The state will continue to finance up to EUR 75 of the municipal benefit that local governments pay to residents affected by the Covid-19 crisis, according to legislative amendments adopted by the Saeima in the final reading on Wednesday. 

LETA was told at the parliamentary press office that the amendments to the Law on Social Services and Social Assistance were passed to extend the provision of state aid until December 31. Under the previous regulation, the Covid-19 support had to end on June 30. 

To partly compensate local governments for these expenditures, the state covers 50 percent of the municipal benefits provided to local residents during the crisis. The state's co-funding for these benefits is up to EUR 75 per person a month. 

The crisis benefit is provided to a household or an individual whose income has substantially decreased or disappeared as a result of the state of emergency that was declared in Latvia because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Additional EUR 50 can be granted for each child under 18 years of age.