Mindaugas Sinkevičius, Lithuania's prime minister-designate, has pledged that his cabinet will maintain fiscal discipline, while acknowledging that fulfilling the new coalition's spending commitments will be an exceptionally difficult challenge.
Sinkevičius made the pledge during his presentation to the Seimas on Thursday evening, when Conservative MP Laurynas Kaščiūnas pressed him on whether his government would safeguard financial stability.
The National Audit Office and the Bank of Lithuania have both recently warned that the country is approaching excessive debt levels.
"We certainly cannot, under any circumstances, allow things to get out of hand," Sinkevičius said.
He was candid, however, about the scale of the task ahead. "The coalition programme includes aspirations and good ideas, but they have one drawback: they come at a cost. We know what kind of financial situation we'll be inheriting. It will certainly be a huge challenge."
