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The state budget for 2012 is aimed at strengthening the national financial system. Currently we are closing the international loan programme, thus we expect that the budget for 2013 will be fully dedicated to growth and financial independence. These were the main points highlighted by Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima, on Tuesday, 6 December, when she accepted the briefcase with the draft budget from the Minister for Finance.

“In recent years, consolidation has become a buzzword; it is a strong and positively charged word which means strengthening in Latin,” said the Speaker.

Āboltiņa emphasised that we have had a couple of crisis budgets; last year’s budget was a stabilisation budget, and the budget for 2012 is the final budget dedicated to strengthening our financial situation. “The crimson-white-crimson ribbon on the budget briefcase indicates that drafting of the next state budget will be no longer supervised by the international lenders; we will be financially independent and free to decide on the budget revenues and expenditures. The next budget – the state budget for 2013 – must be dedicated to our development and financial independence,” said the Speaker.

The Speaker then handed over the briefcase with the draft budget to Jānis Reirs, Chairman of the Budget and Finance (Taxation) Committee of the Saeima, who admitted that the draft budget for 2012 is emotionally and physically lighter than the previous one. The draft budget for 2012 includes no painful cuts at the expense of the general public, and the number of budget-related draft laws has decreased from 109 to just 31 this year. “It is our task to make sure that the law comes into force on 1 January 2012 so that Latvia’s people, municipalities and public institutions are aware of the funds at their disposal. Therefore, the Committee is prepared to work overtime, if necessary,” said Reirs.

This is the second year in a row when the draft state budget is submitted to the Saeima not only in hard copy but also in a memory stick. The Speaker of the Saeima explained that as a resource-saving measure, there are currently 55 MPs who have switched from paper to electronic documents, and there is no need to make hard copies of the draft budget for them.

Photos from the event are available at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/saeima/sets/72157628302788829/
Video from the event is available at: https://www.youtube.com/user/SaeimaSAB#p/a/u/0/OoIV-biLjRQ

When using the material, please give credit to the Saeima Chancellery.


Saeima Press service