RIGA, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- Latvian Finance Minister Janis Reirs is determined to prevent any taxes from being raised next year just to accommodate politicians' wishes.
The minister said in an interview with public television Monday that when drafting Latvia's 2020 budget, it is essential to prevent taxes from being raised to finance various wishes.
If there is a highly important priority, it does not mean everyone have to pay higher taxes for it, Reirs said.
He noted that Latvia's center-right government remains committed to the earlier promise to not raise taxes until 2021.
In order not to take sudden decisions on taxes at the last moment, the possible tax changes for 2021 will be approved in the first half of 2020, the minister said.
This week, the government is supposed to reach an agreement on next year's budget priorities, but the process is likely to take longer as the coalition partners have yet to come to a compromise solution.
The allocation requests for 2020 submitted by the Ministries of Health, Transport, Interior and other government institutions have already reached around a billion euros and the New Conservative Party insists on raising the minimum wage, nontaxable minimum income and pensions.
