Latvia posts 1.2% budget deficit for 2012, below forecast
RIGA. Jan 10 (Interfax/BNS) - Latvia had a budget deficit of 1.2% of GDP in 2012, below a forecast 1.9%, Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis told reporters, quoting a preliminary figure.
Finance Minister Andris Vilks also said the budget situation last year turned out to be better than expected. Spending was lower in December than a year earlier, while the revenue base is very strong and business activity is generating good tax revenues, the minister said.
He said the execution of the 2013 state budget might also be better than planned. This year the trend will be very similar, and there is reason to believe that figures should be better than forecast. Everything, particularly the situation in the eurozone, is indicating that growth should be good and tax revenues have improved, Vilks said.
If there will be positive trends in the global and European economies Latvia has a good chance of balancing its budget in 2015-2016, Vilks said.
The Latvian government on Tuesday approved updated medium-term macroeconomic indicators that project a budget deficit of 1.4% of GDP in 2013, 0.8% in 2014, 0.3% in 2015 and 0.2% in 2016. Tax revenues are expected to increase by 3.3% this year, 2.3% in 2014, 2.2% in 2015 and 3.5% in 2016. Economic growth is targeted at 3.7% in 2013 and 4% annually in subsequent years.