Nausėda to meet parliament speaker before 2027 budget debate

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda will meet parliament Speaker Juozas Olekas on Monday as lawmakers prepare to begin considering next year’s budget, LRT reported. The draft is due to be presented to parliament on Tuesday. Representatives of the president’s office and the speaker’s office did not disclose the meeting’s agenda to BNS.

After the budget is presented, parliament will take a two-week break from plenary sessions while committees and commissions review the proposal. At the first reading, they will present their findings, lawmakers will state their positions, and the head of the Budget and Finance Committee will report on proposed additional funding. There is no vote at that stage; the draft is returned to the government for revision.

At the second reading, parliament will consider the revisions and set a date for final approval. The final stage will include debate on lawmakers’ amendments and a vote.

The draft puts next year’s general government deficit at 3.8% of gross domestic product, above the 3% limit set by the Maastricht criterion for European Union member states. It proposes more than 4.8 billion euros for defence, equal to 5% of GDP. The defence budget would be tens of millions of euros higher than this year’s in cash terms, but lower as a share of the economy.

The proposal also provides for pay rises of about 7.5% for teachers, statutory officers and cultural workers, and about 5.7% for judges’ assistants and secretaries. The increases would require an additional 315.4 million euros in total.

State budget revenue is projected at 22.2 billion euros, including European Union funds, up 5.2% on this year. Spending is forecast at 27.9 billion euros, an increase of 1.3%.