The International Monetary Fund Experts will Assess Lithuania's Economic Prospects
Today, Minister of Finance Gintarė Skaistė had a meeting with Borja Gracia, head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission to Lithuania, and IMF experts, who over the next almost two weeks will analyse the country's economic situation and prospects. Attention will be paid to the country's business and labour market environment, competitiveness, the situation in the energy sector, progress in implementing the green transformation and other relevant issues.
"The negative effects of russia's war against Ukraine suppress the economic activity of Lithuania and the entire European Union. Despite this, it is projected that the country's labour market will remain strong enough – rapid wage growth will continue, and a significant increase in unemployment is not expected this year. A fairly good labour market situation, decreasing inflationary pressure and positive expectations of the population, together with the expected strengthening of external demand, allow us to cautiously assume that the second half of this year will be more favourable for economic growth. We will discuss Lithuanian and wider economic trends in detail with the IMF experts, who will delve into the Lithuanian economic situation this week," noted G. Skaistė.
From 31 May to 12 June, the IMF representatives will also meet with representatives of the Government, Seimas, Presidency, Bank of Lithuania, Financial Crimes Investigation Service, National Audit Office and other state institutions, social partners and the private sector.
The Bank of Lithuania and the IMF mission are also organizing a seminar on 7 June, during which relevant topics will be discussed: inflation, labour market and wage trends, and their impact on the country's competitiveness. There will also be presentations by the IMF mission and a panel discussion, in which the head of the IMF mission B. Gracia, Minister of Finance G. Skaistė, Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania Gediminas Šimkus will take part.
The seminar will be held at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration of Vilnius University (Saulėtekio al. 9, Vilnius).
The conclusions and recommendations of the IMF mission to Lithuania are prepared in accordance with Article IV of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement. During the mission, the economic and financial situation of Lithuania is reviewed in detail, emerging risks are assessed.
Additional information:
- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was founded in 1944 at the United Nations conference in Bretton Woods (USA). The purpose of establishing the Fund is to promote international cooperation in monetary and exchange rate policy, strengthen global economic growth, increase employment and provide temporary financial assistance to solve balance of payments problems of member countries.
- Lithuania became a member of the IMF in 1992. Article IV of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement obliges the member countries of the IMF to strive to implement such an economic and financial policy that would ensure national and international financial and economic stability
- The Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania Gediminas Šimkus is a Member of the Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund, and the Minister of Finance Gintarė Skaistė is an Alternate Member of the Board of Governors.
- Currently, the IMF includes 190 countries of the world.
Last updated: 02-06-2023
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