Latvian transport minister proposes raising excise duty on diesel fuel to finance road repairs

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RIGA, July 22 (Xinhua) -- Excise duty on diesel fuel might be increased in Latvia in order to provide financing for road repairs, the Baltic country's Transport Minister Talis Linkaits suggested in an interview with public television on Monday.

The minister said that around 200 million euros (224 million U.S. dollars) worth of budget funds could be allocated for road maintenance as part of the planned municipal reform as high-quality roads are necessary to ensure connections between those municipalities that will merged in the reform process.

The government, however, will not be able to provide 1 billion euros regional authorities are seeking for road maintenance and construction, Linkaits admitted.

"I hope that we can provide budget funds as part of the municipal reform. We can talk about some 200 million," the minister said, adding that this is the sum already discussed in the government.

Linkaits went on to suggest that in the long term, financing for Latvia's roads could be provided by raising excise duty on diesel fuel, especially given that the government policy is to encourage people to use public transport and environmentally-friendly vehicles.

"On the one hand, this would be a painful solution, but on the other hand, it would provide financing for roads," the transport minister said. (1 euro = 1.12 U.S. dollars) Enditem

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