“I have been hearing this demagoguery for several years in a row. In each of my annual reports, I have argued that we need to implement tax reform as quickly as possible. The window for reforms is opening,” the president told reporters in Nemenčinė on Thursday.
“I’ve been doing this probably since 2021. But at that time the mood was completely different: oh, we’ll make it, oh, we’ll do it. In the end, that reform window closed before our eyes, and that tax reform was supposed to become a possible source for supplementing the state budget income”, added G. Nausėda.
After the head of the country had previously called on the teachers’ salaries to be raised more according to the opposition’s proposals, Seimas Speaker Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen said that he should indicate the sources for such a proposal, and Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė stated that the general context of the budget should be seen, “and not send the Government like that orphan to light bulbs.” in the winter to look for some money there and bring it, put it on the table”.
G. Nausėda, for his part, recalled the proposal to tax income not according to its type, but according to its size – this would have solved the problem of teachers’ salaries.
“Yes, the Government also proposed its own progressive taxation, we proposed to apply a slightly higher progressiveness, but because the moment was missed, neither the first nor the second proposal was implemented. It means that we will not have additional budget income. It is now repeating the same again abrakadabras it really doesn’t make sense anymore and I think we have to think first about how we can get teachers’ salaries to reach that 130 percent of the average salary,” said the president.
He also urged the Ministry of Finance not to be alarmed by planning “very conservative average wage growth next year”.
The adviser to the President, Irena Segalovičienė, said this week that next year teachers’ salaries will be increased in two stages by 10% each. doubts whether the promise that their salaries will reach 130% will be fulfilled. average salary.
The government promises to raise teachers’ salaries twice by 10% next year. – from January and a similar proportion from September.
However, this proposal does not satisfy the trade union of Lithuanian education workers led by Andriaus Navickos, which on Wednesday resumed the strike that started at the end of September and was stopped in mid-October.
Four other trade unions of education workers signed a collective agreement of the education and science branch with the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports last month.
An additional 496 million will be allocated to education in 2024. euros. Most of this amount is 352.6 million. EUR – intended to increase the salaries of pedagogues, teachers, researchers and non-academic employees.
In next year’s state budget draft, almost 2.9 billion is expected for education, science and sports. euros.
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2024-08-14 00:50:22
