LATVIAN PARLIAMENT RAISES PLANNED BUDGET DEFICIT

In an emergency meeting on 26 June, the parliament passed a number of laws primarily dealing with financial matters. By increasing expenditures over revenues by 10.6 million lats ($16.5 million) the planned budget deficit was increased to 89.8 million lats, or 1.82 percent of GDP. The parliament also supported extending state guarantees for 23.2 million lats to the Latvian Mortgage and Land Bank for its planned lending program for housing development and for small- and medium-sized businesses. It approved a state guarantee for 4.3 million lats to the Jaunpagasts Plus company for constructing a bioethanol plant. Amendments were adopted to the Commercial Law, which delay its implementation until 1 January 2002. The People's Party, which objects to the law, had earlier succeeded in postponing the introduction of the law from the originally approved 1 January 2001 to 1 April and then to 1 July.