Europese Unie noemt fiscaal plan Letland 'moedig' en 'ambitieus' (en)

Met dank overgenomen van Tsjechisch voorzitterschap Europese Unie 1e helft 2009 i, gepubliceerd op dinsdag 16 juni 2009.

Joint statement by the Presidency of the Ecofin Council and the Commission on the fiscal package adopted by the Latvian Parliament on 16 June 2009.

The Presidency and the Commission welcome the new fiscal package for 2009 and 2010 adopted by the Latvian Parliament today, which is a courageous and ambitious step forward to address fiscal imbalances. In particular, we commend the support given by social partners to the package. This shows that there is awareness and commitment amongst key stakeholders on the need for bold action in the current difficult economic situation, which is crucial.

We stress that implementation and full delivery of the measures is necessary to achieve the budgetary consolidation foreseen for 2009 and 2010 (amounting to about Lat 500 million or 4% of GDP per year). While the urgency to act in the current situation may warrant to some extent the recourse to one-off measures in 2009, work on permanent measures to sustainably reduce the budget deficit and improve the competitiveness of the economy in 2010 and the following years should start immediately. In this context, the decision taken to ring-fence the co-financing of EU structural funds is important as it ensures access to EU financing that will be used for productivity-enhancing expenditures. Building on the current fiscal package, it is crucial that Latvia develops a credible medium-term budgetary strategy aiming at bringing the deficit below the 3% of GDP Maastricht threshold by 2012.

The budgetary measures adopted today will be assessed thoroughly in the next days, based on an analysis of the European Commission, in close co-operation with the IMF and together with the Latvian authorities. Following this, a decision on the disbursement of the second tranche of the EU balance-of-payments assistance will be taken without delay.

 

Contact:

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    Radka Kohutová, spokeswoman of the Ministry of Finance
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    Tel.: +420 257 042 103, GSM: +420 724 845 394, radka.kohutova@mfcr.cz