Latvia’s state debt will remain below 50% of GDP in the coming years, Kaspars Abolins, head of the Latvian State Treasury, assured, LETA reports. Currently, the state debt stands at slightly over EUR 18bn, which is around 44% of GDP and one of the lowest in the EU, Abolins noted. The State Treasury expects the…
Demand for new Estonian government bonds totalled EUR 821mn, which was four times more than the EUR 200mn offered, the Ministry of Finance announced, ERR reports. Altogether 28 professional investors and 7,304 retail investors participated in the public bond offering. Retail investors subscribed to bonds worth EUR 29mn and will receive 100% of the amount…
Lithuania’s GDP will grow by 2.3% in 2024 and 2.9% in 2025, according to the Finance Ministry’s revised forecast, BNS reports. In June 2024, the ministry projected that the GDP would grow by 2.1% in 2024 and 2.9% in 2025. Average annual inflation will slow down to 1.0% (1.1%) in 2024, before rising to 2.5%…
Estonian President Alar Karis stressed that the state budget must remain under strict parliamentary control, BNS reported. Speaking at the opening of the autumn session of the Estonian parliament, the Riigikogu, Karis said that MPs should not engage in bargaining for budget funds for their supporters, but instead focus on making the most important decisions…
The Latvian state will have to borrow at least EUR 3bn annually for the next four years, Kaspars Abolins, head of the State Treasury, announced, LETA reports. He said that the state needed to refinance earlier Eurobonds and finance the state budget deficit and loans to local governments. The plan was to raise the money…
The Estonian government will not raise wages for teachers in 2025, ERR reports. The Estonian Educational Personnel Union (EHL) has demanded that basic teacher salaries start at the level of the national average wage. However, Education Minister Kristina Kallas noted that the state did not have the money to meet EHL’s demand, which would require…
The Estonian Defence Forces (EDF) warned that war would ravage Estonia if the government failed to purchase additional ammunition as requested, ERR reports. EDF has requested EUR 1.6bn worth of ammunition. EDF commander General Andrus Merilo said that if only half of the ammunition was purchased, all combat operations during war would take place on…
Baltic transport ministers called for increased EU funding for strategic transport infrastructure projects, The Baltic Times reports. The ministers insisted that the Connecting Europe Facility has to remain one of the key instruments in the EU’s next multiannual financial framwork as of 2028, with sufficient funding for cross-border transport, energy, and electronic communications projects. They…
The Latvian government will freeze public funding for political parties in 2025, Prime Minister Evika Silina announced, LSM reports. She said that coalition parties had approved the proposal to halt the indexation of state support for parties. The government’s austerity measures have required ministries to cut spending in the public sector. Altogether 12 political parties…