Latvia cuts pensions, declares escape from 'bankruptcy'
Expatica.com EXCERPT:
The government, which is desperately trying to bridge a yawning budget deficit, decided late on Thursday to slash public-sector pay and pensions and family allowances, and not to raise taxes.
Riga -- Latvia said on Friday it had staved off bankruptcy by new sharp cuts in public spending to meet international bailout conditions amid the deepest recession in the European Union.
"With yesterday's decisions the state has really been saved from bankruptcy," Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis said after a marathon cabinet session, although the measures must yet be approved by parliament
The government, which is desperately trying to bridge a yawning budget deficit, decided late on Thursday to slash public-sector pay by 20 percent and pensions and family allowances by 10 percent, and not to raise taxes.
Dombrovskis said on Latvian radio that the government would try to speed up the adoption of the latest cutbacks, with a vote in parliament possible as early as Monday, although the chamber's budgetary commission later cautioned that Wednesday was more likely.
The government had held talks with labour union leaders and the national pensioners' federation before deciding on the cuts, in an effort to ward off the spectre of more of the street protests which have occurred in Latvia in recent months.
Unions, however, warned that they planned nationwide protests on Thursday.
Expatica.com EXCERPT:
The government, which is desperately trying to bridge a yawning budget deficit, decided late on Thursday to slash public-sector pay and pensions and family allowances, and not to raise taxes.
Riga -- Latvia said on Friday it had staved off bankruptcy by new sharp cuts in public spending to meet international bailout conditions amid the deepest recession in the European Union.
"With yesterday's decisions the state has really been saved from bankruptcy," Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis said after a marathon cabinet session, although the measures must yet be approved by parliament
The government, which is desperately trying to bridge a yawning budget deficit, decided late on Thursday to slash public-sector pay by 20 percent and pensions and family allowances by 10 percent, and not to raise taxes.
Dombrovskis said on Latvian radio that the government would try to speed up the adoption of the latest cutbacks, with a vote in parliament possible as early as Monday, although the chamber's budgetary commission later cautioned that Wednesday was more likely.
The government had held talks with labour union leaders and the national pensioners' federation before deciding on the cuts, in an effort to ward off the spectre of more of the street protests which have occurred in Latvia in recent months.
Unions, however, warned that they planned nationwide protests on Thursday.
