Analytics, Covid-19, Crisis, Direct Speech, Financial Services, Lithuania

The head of state also warned on Thursday, however, that the state's funds must not be wasted, adding that ensuring the transparency of public procurements and fighting corruption are a priority.

"We will pool efforts to make sure Lithuania's tax system is fairer and does not service the needs of specific interest groups or even people. But even the fairest tax system will not ensure a dignified life until money for the creation of a common wellbeing is parceled out and wasted, and not invested into the future," Nauseda said on Tuesday, delivering his State of the Nation Address in the parliament.

Transparent public procurements and taking corruption under control is key, Nauseda said. “In case of success, we could save funds and use them for the healthcare system, education, pensions and other social needs. We have put amendments to the Laws on Public Procurement and Corruption, and this is only the beginning," the president said.

During the crisis, Nauseda backed the payment of one-off payouts of 200 euros to pensioners and also giving one-off payouts of 120 and 200 euros to families with families. He also proposed raising non-taxable income by 50 euros and temporarily cut the residential income tax rate by 5 percentage points to be applied to three average salaries (around 4,000 euros).

The Seimas is inclined to back the presidential proposal on increasing non-taxable income, but the ruling block is against cutting the residential income tax rate, with critics, including Finance Minister Vilius Sapoka, saying that it would not reduce poverty.

Gitanas Nauseda says that Lithuania must strive to become "a just, green, innovative welfare state", a goal that requires more respect, dialogue and mutual trust. "For three decades, the most important goal of all of us has been to return to where we were forcibly torn from – to the Western world in the political, cultural and economic sense of the word," Nauseda said in his first State of the Nation Address to the parliament on Thursday.

"For three decades, we have sought to establish the country's international security so that the painful history of the past never happens again," the president said.  "This process of building and improving the state is ever-ongoing. Next to it, however, today we have set another great goal for Lithuania: a just, green, innovative welfare state," he added. 

According to Nauseda, the welfare state begins "with respect, mutual trust, responsibility for the common interest and assistance to each other".

The president said he will patiently seek consensus on the further development of the state. "The only plan suitable for Lithuania is one that we will achieve by consensus," Nauseda said.  "I devoted the first year of my term to achieving more respect, trust, justice, responsibility and solidarity in Lithuania," he said. 

Nauseda took office as Lithuanian president on July 12, 2019. He ran in the election on a welfare state platform focused on scaling down social exclusion and advocating greater respect in politics.