In 2012, Lithuania will fall over backwards to attain the aim of not exceeding the budget deficit of 3%. This is what the ruling coalition says, yet, the experts claim that such ambitious aims will make Lithuania tighten belts even more.

Last week, the leaders of the European Union agreed that a member-state's budget deficit should not exceed 3% in the future, while the structural deficit should not go over 0.5%, writes LETA/ELTA, referring to Lietuvos rytas.

The new agreement stipulates that the member-states which fail that will face sanctions. However, the parliaments of the non-eurozone member-states will have yet to agree on the plan. Even though Lithuania is not a member of the eurozone, it wants to fully comply with the requirements. In order to do that, introduction of new taxes and benefit freezing is being considered. While Europe is looking for a way to cut the structural deficit, Lithuania wants to excel itself and have a surplus. It is forecasted that Lithuania's next year budget defic it will stand at 5.8% of gross domestic product (GDP). The ruling coalition wants the budget deficit not to exceed 3% from as early as next year.