The Prime Minister calls on ministries to be proactive and come up with proposals for possible savings / day

As Siliņa emphasized to LETA, following a cooperation meeting of government -forming parties, Minister of Finance Arvill Aseraden (JV) is obliged to explain the issue of redistribution of budget funds.

She stated that she was expecting a specific offer from the minister to arrive at a government meeting. According to her, the first phase of the talks is already over, and the second is now on – active work and consultation with several ministries to find a solution to provide the necessary € 150 million.

Siliņa admitted that this was not a simple issue and stressed that the Minister of Finance was expected to be full of involvement and cooperation with other ministries.

At the same time, she also called for ministries themselves to be proactive and make their proposals for possible savings. In her view, this approach would allow a more balanced solution, as the outward initiative is not always positively perceived.

The Prime Minister expressed the hope that ministers would come up with their own initiatives, as it would give more flexibility to each of them find the most appropriate solutions in their sectors.

The LETA agency has already announced that proposals to reduce public spending will be expected from the Ministry of Finance in June.

During June, the Ministry of Finance must prepare proposals to reduce state spending by at least € 150 million to find funding for defense, education and demographics.

Finance Minister Arvill Aseraden (JV) has previously stated that public administration has the opportunity to find ways to save € 450 million in the defense industry in the coming years. It would be a redistribution of funds for other priorities, with the total budget for the total amount of unchanged.

The minister explained that two scenarios were possible – « flat » when all ministries and departments are tasked with saving 5%, and then they have to think about how to do so, or the structural scenario when saving can be found in specific areas, or by making specific rearrangements.

At the extraordinary sitting of the Saeima, Asheraden, a progress report of 2025-2028 for 2025-2028, said fiscal policy in the coming years would have to be implemented so that the public debt does not exceed 55% of gross domestic product (GDP). At the same time, the budget deficit should be reduced to 1.5% of GDP by 2029, so significant reduction and efficiency of public expenditure will have to be made in the next three years, the Minister of Finance said.

Aseraden said the public sector should have at least € 450 million in the coming years, so it would have to be narrowed out by public administration, abandoning individual functions, combining a public authority, and possibly combining some ministries.

Aseraden informed that tax revenue in the first quarter exceeded the forecasters by EUR 54 million, while acknowledging that this year, as a whole, tax revenue could still be only 99% of forecast.