Kulbergs aims to restore Latvia's 2018 financial position by 2030

Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs (AS) said at a press conference on Tuesday, 10 November, that the government aims to bring the country's financial situation by 2030 back to the level of 2018. He described that year as the last good one; Latvia's real economic growth then was 4%.

One of his targets is to raise the number of people in work to 909,000 in 2030, which would be 26,000 more than in 2025. According to the prime minister, if that many people worked in Latvia, the state would receive roughly 290 million euros more in taxes each year.

Finance Ministry forecasts

The Finance Ministry (FM) expects Latvia's gross domestic product (GDP) to grow by 2.4% this year and by 1.9% next year. Compared with the indicative assessment prepared in early June, this year's growth forecast has been raised by 0.4 percentage points because of stronger results in the first half. Forecasts for later years were trimmed slightly: growth of 2–2.4% a year is expected for 2028–2030. The ministry says high external uncertainty and rising energy prices call for a more cautious view of future development.

The ministry's updated calculations show that fiscal space in 2027 will be negative, at 117.7 million euros. The general government budget deficit forecast for 2026 remains at 2.9% of GDP. Under unchanged policy, the deficit would reach 4.2% of GDP in 2027 and 5.4% in 2028, then 4.5% in 2029, before falling to 2.7% in 2030.

According to State Treasury forecasts, general government debt will be 47% of GDP in 2026. It will rise gradually in the following years and stabilise at about 53% from 2029.

The FM also projects that average monthly gross pay will rise to 1,906 euros next year and to 2,361 euros in 2030. Unemployment is forecast at 6.8% next year, declining to 6.1% by 2030.