RIGA, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Latvian government debt has swollen by 2 billion euros (2.36 billion U.S. dollars) since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, the Baltic country's fiscal watchdog noted in its latest crisis monitoring report Wednesday.
The government support provided to various crisis-stricken businesses has reached 9 percent of Latvia's GDP, the Fiscal Discipline Council noted, calling on the government to scale back economic stimuli and prevent the debt from growing larger.
According to the report, Latvia's basic budget revenue collected in July exceeded the amount in the same month last year, an indication that Latvia might have passed the lowest crisis point.
Given the recent positive signs in tax income and macroeconomic performance results, the council concluded that it's time for the government to turn attention to measures aimed at reducing government debt.
It is also necessary to ensure more effective supervision of the government's support instruments, the watchdog said. Enditem
