Minister G. Skaistė: "The investment account could contribute to the capital market development"
"A strong financial system, including the banking and capital market ecosystems, is an essential driver of competitiveness and healthy economic growth. In addition to other measures implemented by us, the implementation of the investment account project could contribute to its growth," said Minister G. Skaistė at the investors' conference "Shaping the Future Financial Sector" held at Vilnius University today.
At the event for the Lithuanian capital market and international investors, Minister G. Skaistė briefly presented the most ambitious project in the region awaiting adoption by the Seimas in the near future.
"The essence of the investment account is to create a more convenient and attractive environment for smaller investors, exempting them from income tax on profits if it is reinvested through this account further. Lithuanian residents keep more than EUR 22 billion in banks. We hope that the investment account will mobilize at least part of these savings and make them work thus benefiting both for the investors and the Lithuanian economy, and contribute to the faster capital market development," said Minister G. Skaistė.
At the international conference, the Minister also drew attention to the significant work already done by Lithuania for the development of the capital market: Lithuania is implementing the National Capital Market Development Plan, established the Capital Market Council, which brings together representatives of both the market and the public sector, and, together with Latvia and Estonia, is developing the Baltic Capital Markets Initiative aimed at harmonizing some of the regulatory requirements and thus increasing the attractiveness of the region for external investors.
Another important achievement is that now all three Baltic countries are evaluated as one region in international indexes. Recently, the US investment research company MSCI established a new single index of the Baltic countries, thereby increasing the attractiveness of the region for international investors.
In addition to these steps, the 2023-2026 Lithuanian Green Finance Action Plan prepared by the Ministry with its partners also contributes to the development of the capital market, which provides for directing public and private investor funds to green, environmentally neutral projects; as well as the establishment of the Green Finance Institute, the Financial Literacy Plan, which will educate not only the public, but also small and medium-sized businesses about all possible business financing options, as surveys show that the potential of financing information is not being exploited.
Last updated: 03-06-2024
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