The Lithuanian parliament, Seimas, has passed the 2024 state spending budget. The discussions on Tuesday lasted more than three hours and concluded with a vote of 73 in favour and 52 against with one abstention.
Most of the discussion was taken up by motions tabled by MPs and rejected by the government the day before. All of them, including initiatives to provide additional funds for pay rises for teachers, prosecutors, environmentalists or various infrastructure, were rejected, leaving the 2024 state budget as it was approved by the cabinet on Monday.
Many members of the ruling coalition did not take part in the debate about the proposals.
The largest share of spending increases will go toward pensions and various social benefits, teachers’ salaries and road maintenance.
This is the penultimate budget drawn up by this government and the last one adopted by this parliament.
Next year, defence spending will exceed 2 billion euros and stand at 2.75 percent of GDP. Traditional budget allocations will amount to 2.52 percent of GDP, with the rest coming from the temporary windfall tax on banks and borrowing.
The increase in excise duties will raise the price of beer, wine and other alcoholic beverages, as well as tobacco products.
State revenue next year will amount to 16.98 billion euros and expenditure will stand at 20.6 billion euros, leading to a budget deficit of 3 percent of GDP.
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