The Lithuanian government’s revenue is stabilizing after taking a hit from the coronavirus crisis, the finance minister said, even though it fell by 30% below target in May.
“The situation is starting to stabilize here. By comparison, revenue collection in April was more than 32% lower than projected,” Vilius Sapoka reported.
In May, the central government’s revenue was 150 million euros below the level of 2019, he said.
The decline is down to poor economic performance of businesses in April due to the coronavirus quarantine, according to the minister. As one of the government’s relief schemes, they have been allowed to defer tax payments.
“Businesses affected by the pandemic continue to actively use the tax deferral opportunity,” Sapoka said, specifying that businesses currently owed 435 million euros in unpaid taxes and customs duties.
Based on preliminary data, the central government missed its budget revenue target for January-May by around 15.2%.
Compared to the same period last year, the government’s total revenue fell by nearly 280 million euros, or about 8.1%, according to Sapoka. (LRT/Business World Magazine)
