Lithuanians think that the government doesn’t save taxpayer money

LLRI

2008-11-14

As the results of a representative opinion poll conducted in October 2008 demonstrate, in the face of the current economic recession, ordinary Lithuanians save the most, private businesses keep nearly in step with them, while state institutions save the least.

	Save the most (percent)	Do not save at all (percent)
People	69	4
Private business	34	12
State institutions	3	67

According to LFMI‘s Junior Policy Analyst Kaetana Leontjeva, respondents reported about their own behaviour or the behaviour of their friends and acquaintances while evaluating the trends in people’s saving. Naturally, in the course of a crisis, people are more concerned about their finances, which leads them to cut expenses on non-primary commodities or services (e.g. entertainment). When expressing their views about business saving, people also tend to think private companies save to a large extent. There has been a growing number of news reports in Lithuania that businesses allocate fewer funds for advertising and decrease the volume of production or even temporarily halt activity. Thus, it can be assumed that this information has contributed to shaping people’s views about extensive saving by business.

Meanwhile, more than two-thirds of those polled believe that state institutions in Lithuania do not save at all. It can be presupposed that Lithuanians would want their government to follow the people’s and business’ lead and to save more than at present. “Interestingly, the answers of respondents who hold jobs reveal that civil servants and employees working in the public sector are convinced the most that the government isn’t saving budget money,” commented LFMI’s analyst.

This representative sociological survey was conducted on October 3-14, 2008 using face-to-face interviews. It is an Omnibus poll. 1,040 permanent Lithuanian inhabitants aged 15 to 74 were interviewed. Statistical error does not exceed 3 percent.

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