Under the bill, passed by the Seimas on Dec. 12, Lithuania projects, for the first time, a general government surplus and is set to meet, also for the first time, NATO’s 2 percent of GDP defence spending target.
The government says that the 2018 budget focuses on reducing poverty, boosting national security, improving health care, promoting entrepreneurship and investment, and making municipalities less financially dependent on the central government.
Spending on reducing social exclusion is set to increase by 600 million euros next year compared with this year.