Analytics, Inflation, Lithuania, Quality of life, Statistics
International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics
Wednesday, 24.04.2024, 07:30
Inflation behind rise in people living below poverty line in Lithuania – expert
"Inflation is
doing its disruptive work. Naturally, living standards are rising in Lithuania,
especially the basic services, but they've been also rising in the foodstuffs
group. People dependent on social benefits or any other state payout, including
pensioners, have it a hard time to adjusting to inflation challenges as their
income does not rise at the same rate as the prices of basic foodstuffs,"
Nauseda told.
In his words,
although people's nominal income is growing, the poverty line is also rising,
and due to growing living costs more and more people fail to get over the
poverty line.
In order to reduce
the number of people living below the poverty threshold, first of all, the
share of the GDP distributable via the state budget should be increased and
more money should go to social policies aimed at the poorest residents, the
expert believes.
"We started
indexing social payouts as of 2018 but, as often happens, that indexing is not
enough to compensate the loss of the purchasing power 100%. The pension
indexing should least ensure that pensions do not grow below inflation,"
Nauseda said.
Official figures from
Statistics Lithuania showed earlier in the day that around 650,000 people, or
22.9%, lived below the at-risk-of-poverty threshold in Lithuania last year, up
1%age point.
The poverty line
stood at 307 euros a month per capita or 644 euros a month for a family of two
adults and two children under 14.