This is because the draft 2021 budget worked out by the outgoing government does not earmark funding for certain measures already passed by the Seimas, such as higher pension indexation or inclusive education, according to Simonyte.
"This basically means that the deficit will inevitably be higher, and I am saying this very clearly now, because the deficit projection in the preliminary draft budget does not factor in many things," she told the Ziniu Radijas radio station.
Simonyte said the new Cabinet will have to find a "tolerable deficit threshold".
"To avoid additional confusion, we will look for a tolerable deficit threshold at which we will have to stop, because debt growth has already become a problem," she said.
Gintare Skaiste, candidate for finance minister, said on Wednesday that the budget deficit might reach about 6.5 percent in 2021.
The current budget draft projects a deficit of 5 percent of GDP next year, but the National Audit Office forecasts that it will be higher at 5.7 percent. Vitas Vasiliauskas, the central bank governor, has also warned that the 2021 deficit may exceed the 5 percent projection.