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On Thursday, 13 September, the Saeima adopted in the final reading amendments to the Law on the State Budget for 2012, thus supporting allocation of more than 88 million lats for priority measures in such areas as transport, health-care, welfare, interior affairs, culture and education, as well as funds for several other initiatives.The amendments were adopted with 88 votes for, none against and 2 abstaining.
Additional funding in the amount of 23.6 million lats has been allocated to the transport sector, earmarked for maintenance and renovation of roads, especially in the Latgale region, as well as for subsidising public transportation service providers. Likewise, additional funding has been allocated to compensate losses incurred by postal delivery service providers in rural areas, as well as local and regional public transportation service providers, due to the fact that the previously planned measures in these fields have not been implemented.
The health-care sector received an additional 30 million lats to improve accessibility to health-care services and to reduce waiting time. The money will also be used to cover the costs of day-care and out-patient care, medical examinations and implementation of the Mother and Child Health Promotion Plan. Apart from that, the allocated funds will be used to subsidise the costs of medicines and medical equipment for out-patients, procurement of vaccines, childbirth assistance, as well as the repayment of debts incurred by the Infectology Centre of Latvia, which has been merged with the Riga Eastern Clinical University Hospital.
An additional 3.9 million lats has been allocated to the welfare sector to ensure additional pensions for politically repressed persons, to compensate the costs of wheelchairs, prosthetic limbs and other equipment for the disabled, as well as to ensure benefits for children who suffer from coeliac disease.
Additional funding has also been provided to ensure the services of care-takers for disabled children above the age of five, as well as students of vocational secondary schools, who are entitled to receive care-takers’ services. 30 thousand lats has been earmarked for procurement of reading aids for the visually impaired children of Strazdumuiža special boarding school, and an additional 50 thousand for rehabilitation services provided by the Latvian Children’s Fund to children who have suffered from violence.
The amendments also provide for an allocation of 5.1 million lats to the culture sector, namely, for remuneration of teachers in culture education establishments, procurement of musical instruments, lighting and sound equipment, costumes for theatres, orchestras and choirs, to promote accessibility to professional art in the regions, as well as to stabilise the financial situation of the National Opera and reconstruct its stage. Likewise, additional funding has been provided for the construction of the National Library and the reconstruction of the communication system of the “Daile” theatre. 15 thousand lats has been earmarked for the celebrations of Lāčplēsis Day and 10 thousand for the ceremonial concert of 18 November to be held in the National Theatre.
An additional 3.2 million lats has been allocated to the sectors of education and science, inter alia, to reward athletes and their coaches for excellent performance, as well as to support other promotional activities. The allocated funds will also be used to renovate several schools and their heating systems, as well as to finance sports’ federations based on their performance in the London 2012 Olympic Games.
An additional 2.3 million lats has been allocated for the agricultural sector, 3.9 million lats for the Police, the State Fire and Rescue Service and other security-related agencies, more than 3 million lats for the justice sector and 402 thousand lats for foreign policy. Funding of 2 million lats has been earmarked to award bonuses to civil servants working for agencies that are involved in combating grey economy and smuggling, while 25 thousand lats has been apportioned for reconstruction of the Veterinary Clinic of the Riga National Zoo to meet international requirements. For the first time in the past five years budget expenditure is increased thanks to higher GDP growth projections for 2012, which have been raised to 4 per cent. The amendments have been adopted taking into account the need to balance the additional expenditure with long-term growth indicators and by considering the European Union requirement to reduce the state budget deficit for 2013 by 0.5 per cent. The amendments to the state budget will come into effect on the day following their proclamation.
Saeima Press Service