The government social insurance fund has asked for money four times this year. Photo courtesy of Alfa.lt.

VILNIUS — The Lithuanian Government has decided to give SoDra, the government’s social benefits agency, its fourth major loan this year after it said it could not pay people their allowances.

“The loan was needed because you need to pay the social benefits on time,” Ridas Jasiulionis, the prime minister’s spokesperson told Baltic Reports. “Of course, the government has planned cuts and it is currently under discussion. The government will decide soon and it will be adopted in Seimas.”

The 460 million litai (€133 million) loan is SoDra’s fourth this year after three earlier loans of 300, 420 and 715 million litai. The latest loan brings the total borrowed this year to 1.9 billion litai (€550 million).

Earlier, President Dalia Grybauskaitė said that SoDra should deal with its own financial problems by cutting social benefits and pensions.

“The budgetary situation of SoDra is very complicated; 2.5 billion litai is a large deficit. At least half of it should be covered from the reserves of SoDra itself or by cutting some expenditure, including some social benefits. There is no other way-out,” Grybauskaite said.

SoDra general direct Mindaugas Mikaila told local media today that he thinks this would be the last loan of the year.

Jasiulionis said the agency would have to pay the new loan off between 2017 and 2019. He expects there to be more loans next year.

Unemployment, which stood at 13.6 percent in the second quarter this year, has risen sharply placing heavy strains on SoDra’s budgets.