The Lithuanian government is planning to borrow around 6.673 billion euros domestically and abroad next year. The government debt is expected to reach around 30.2 billion euros, or 43% of GDP, until the end of 2023. The government plans to borrow around 2 billion euros domestically by issuing government securities and 4 billion euros by…
While some businesses struggle to stay afloat amid soaring energy prices and a squeeze on people’s purchasing power, others are doing better than before. Second-hand clothing retailers are experiencing a boom, with shoppers lured by environmental concerns as well as low prices. Geltonas Namelis (Yellow House) is a clothing shop in Birzai, a town in…
As the Lithuanian parliament, Seimas, starts deliberating the 2023 government spending bill, Finance Minister Gintare Skaiste says the primary focus is on supporting households and business in shouldering high energy prices. “The government is presenting the budget bill today, and we see it as a kind of shield to protect the population in this uncertain…
Siauliu Bankas has started converting Ukrainian hryvnias into euros, the first commercial bank to offer the service in Lithuania. However, only Ukrainians will be allowed to use the service to exchange up to 10,000 hryvnias. Converting the Ukrainian currency into euros became possible after Lithuania’s central bank signed agreements with its Ukrainian counterpart and Siauliu…
Amid rising inflation, the economies of Lithuania and other countries in the world may grow slower than earlier thought, according to the latest assessment by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF expects Lithuania’s GDP to grow by 1.8% this year and by 1.1% in 2023. While the forecast for 2022 remains unchanged from the…
Lithuania has received 138,200 doses of an Omicron-adapted coronavirus vaccine, the Health Ministry reports. The vaccine targeting the BA.4 and BA.5 coronavirus sub-variants will be used for the first or second booster shots, with producers expected to deliver more than half a million adapted vaccine doses in October. The second booster shot of the vaccine…
A proposal to oblige supermarket chains to donate food that is no longer fit for sale has emerged in the Lithuanian parliament. Although it would help more people in need, charities say they do not have the capacity to collect it all. Last week, MP Tomas Tomilinas registered a proposal that supermarkets should be obliged…