Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda backs Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas’ proposal to increase the country’s defense budget as quickly as possible.
“As the security situation in the region is deteriorating, the president supports the fastest possible increase in the defence budget,” Nauseda’s spokesman Ridas Jasiulionis said.
Anusauskas said he would propose to increase Lithuania’s defense budget this year amid worries of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, adding that he had informed Nauseda and the government about his proposal.
Lithuania could allocate an additional several hundred million euros for defense needs this year, Mykolas Majauskas, chairman of the parliamentary Committee on Budget and Finance, said on February 22.
“Taking into account the state’s financial resources and the dynamics of revenue, I believe that the national defence funding could increase by up to several hundred million euros,” the MP said. “The government should decide on the scope of funding and the specific amount, and table the relevant draft laws.”
According to Majauskas, there are several ways to boost the defense budget. One of them would be to allocate additional funding under the existing budget law if the parliament declared a state of emergency.
“That would require ensuring that the government deficit does not increase. Expenditure would be financed from the state or government reserves or the state surplus budget revenue,” he said.
Another way would be to amend the budget law to allow the Finance Ministry to borrow funds to finance the additional defense needs.
“In that case, the borrowing limit and, depending on the amount of financing, the general government deficit would have to be adjusted accordingly,” Majauskas said.
Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said on February 21 that the government was considering revising this year’s state budget to increase defense funding due to tensions in the region.
The Defense Ministry has drawn up preliminary proposals as to what additional funding is needed, and the Finance Ministry is now being consulted on revising this year’s budget, according to Simonyte.
The current 2022 budget earmarks just over 1.2 billion euros for Lithuania’s national defense. (LRT/Business World Magazine)
