Unlike during the bill's second reading earlier this week, the Social Democrats' partners in the center-left ruling coalition - the Labor Party, the Order and Justice Party, and the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania - this time voted in favor of the budget. The opposition Conservatives also backed the budget, while the Liberals abstained from voting.
Liberal MP Kęstutis Glaveckas, a member of the Seimas' Budget and Finance Committee, said that the new government's decision to increase the minimum monthly wages to 1,000 litas (EUR 290) starting on January 1, from the current 850 litas, had left no time for businesses to prepare for financial changes.
Conservative MP Andrius Kubilius, the previous prime minister, also warned that the minimum wages increase would have negative consequences for businesses.
The central government's budget for 2013 projects 18.2 billion litas in revenues, or 25.7 billion litas including EU aid.
The budget is planned with a deficit of 740 million litas, or 0.6 percent of the gross domestic product. The general government deficit in 2013 is projected at around 2.5 percent of GDP. This year's budget aims to keep the deficit under 3 percent of GDP.
The national budget, which includes both the central government and local governments, next year projects nearly 21.4 billion litas in revenues not including EU funds and other international aid. Total revenuess, including EU money, should amount to 28.9 billion litas.
