Financial Services, Latvia, Legislation, Markets and Companies, Shadow economy

International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics Thursday, 28.03.2024, 14:33

Because of the lack of several laws, Latvia failed to collect EUR 30 mln from the shadow economy

BC, Riga, 31.08.2015.Print version
A number of important bills have not been passed by Latvian Saeima and, as a result, the state budget has failed to collect EUR 30 million from the shadow economy, Finance Minister Janis Reirs (Unity) said in an interview with Latvian State Television this morning, reports LETA.

The fight against the shadow economy cannot be considered a priority if the relevant laws are not endorsed, said Reirs.

 

One such instance is the regulations on cash registers, which were proposed in 2011 but have not been passed as yet due to the impossibility of reaching agreement with the Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Reirs explained.

 

As reported, during the 2016 budget talks thus far the government has agreed that budget deficit next year must not exceed 1% of the gross domestic product. The Cabinet of Ministers has also decided that the total funding for ministries' priority projects will be EUR 116.2 million in 2016, EUR 161.3 million in 2017 and EUR 206.9 million in 2018.

 

Likewise, the government has reached agreement on additional funding for national defense. Defense spending next year will be 1.4% of gross domestic product in 2016, 1.7% in 2017 and 2% in 2018. Also, the government has decided that ministries' spending will be reduced 3% or EUR 12.4 million in total in 2016, but spending cuts will not concern four priorities – defense, security, healthcare, and education.






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