Sinkevičius says finance ministry must present budget alternatives

Democratic Union “For Lithuania” chairman Virginijus Sinkevičius said he was tired of doing the Finance Ministry’s work and urged Finance Minister Taurimas Valys to take responsibility for the ministry’s performance and present concrete alternatives for the state budget, LRT reported.

“I’m already tired of doing the Finance Ministry’s job. So far, we are the only ones putting forward concrete plans and proposals,” Sinkevičius told reporters on Thursday.

He said the Democrats had made proposals on both the fuel crisis and what they consider an unbalanced state budget. The Finance Ministry should also take the initiative and put forward its own proposals, he said, adding that the party would discuss them at a coalition council meeting, starting with a working group.

Sinkevičius said the Democrats had proposed setting up a working group to discuss the budget because the current draft was unacceptable to one of the governing parties. He said his party was not avoiding responsibility, but the Finance Ministry should lead the work on preparing the budget and producing economic forecasts.

If Valys could not organise the ministry’s work effectively, he should say so, Sinkevičius added.

Last week, Sinkevičius said his party would not support the 2027 state budget draft submitted to parliament. He said the Finance Ministry needed to do more to reduce the projected deficit and provide a detailed plan for balancing public finances. The ministry had not yet met the conditions for the Democrats to support the proposed budget, he said.