Sinkevičius says partners can still back 2027 budget

Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius said he hopes coalition partners will support the government’s 2027 budget proposal, calling their opposition a preliminary position. LRT reported that he expects parliament to approve the budget after it has been amended and discussed by committees.

“The budget is not Holy Scripture; it can be changed and improved,” Sinkevičius told reporters in Vilnius on Wednesday. He said parliament and its committees would have opportunities to refine the proposal before a planned vote on December 9.

Some members of the Democrats’ Union “For Lithuania” and the Lithuanian Farmers and Greens Union have indicated they may not support the proposal. Former prime minister Algirdas Butkevičius said on Tuesday that some Democrats would oppose it. Farmers and Greens representative and Deputy Speaker of Parliament Aušrinė Norkienė said her faction would not back the budget if the Social Democrats did not take its proposals into account.

Sinkevičius said there was still time for committees to consider ways to increase budget revenue or reduce spending. He urged politicians to discuss public finances respectfully and avoid emotional arguments about the past.

Responding to former prime minister Ingrida Šimonytė’s warning that the budget deficit could rise to 5% in 2028 and 2029 under current commitments, Sinkevičius called such projections “futuristic speculation.” He said it was too early to assume which parties would be in government after the 2028 election.

Sinkevičius rejected criticism that the government was planning public finances irresponsibly, saying its priorities were stability, security and protecting the public economically. He acknowledged that the proposed budget figures and deficit were not “pretty,” but said the government had to weigh fiscal rules against protecting society and the state.

The government’s 2027 budget proposal, presented to parliament on Tuesday, includes a general government deficit above the Maastricht criteria. Revenue is forecast at 22.2 billion euros, including European Union funding, up 5.2% from this year. Spending is projected at 27.9 billion euros, an increase of 1.3%.