RIGA, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- Latvia's national fiscal watchdog on Monday urged the government to take measures to increase tax revenue after a combined loss of 645 million euros in the past two years as a result of its tax reform.
Speaking at a press conference, the Fiscal Discipline Council's chairperson Inna Steinbuka said the Baltic country's budget revenue was not growing as fast as they should because of the 2018 tax reform.
According to the watchdog's estimates, 245 million euros worth of revenue was lost in 2018 and another 400 million euros in 2019, accounting for 0.8 percent and 1.3 percent of Latvia's GDP, respectively.
The Fiscal Discipline Council is, therefore, calling for a moderate rise of the tax burden in the coming years, said Steinbuka.
The short-term target, in Steinbuka's words, might be to increase the tax-to-GDP ratio from 31.4 percent to 35 percent.
In the medium term, the figure should be brought closer to the European Union's average, which in 2018 was 40.3 percent, Steinbuka said. ( 1 euro = 1. 08 U.S. dollars)
