Several dozen hotel and restaurant owners and managers protested outside the Lithuanian government office in central Vilnius on September 27 over the government’s plans to end VAT exemptions for catering businesses. Lower VAT rates were introduced to prop up the sector during the Covid-19 pandemic and would expire at the end of the year. The…
Over the past week, 218 soft loans for a total amount of UAH 0.88 billion were issued within the framework of the State Program Affordable Loans at 5-7-9%, including 160 credit agreements for the amount of UAH 0.403 billion concluded by banks of the public sector of the economy. Since the start of the program…
The tendency of dropping prices and inflation should continue in the coming months with the inflation rate coming closer to the target 3% in the second quarter of 2023, finance minister Lasha Khutsishvili said on September 26. In comments on the latest trends, Khutsishvili noted the downward trajectory of inflation over the past two months…
Fuel prices in the Republic of Moldova have fallen. Thus, compared to the maximum values in June, 95 petrol ended up being cheaper by about 10 lei and diesel by 6.65 lei/liter. According to the National Agency for Energy Regulation (ANRE), the drop in oil and derivative products quotations recorded on the international stock exchanges…
The Bank of Lithuania has downgraded its economic growth forecast for next year. Instead of the previously planned 3.4%, the country’s economy is now expected to grow by only 0.9%. “The forecast for 2023 is being significantly downgraded. This is mainly related to the weaker household consumption,” said Gediminas Simkus, board chairman of the Bank…
One in five people in Lithuania were at risk of poverty last year, according to data from the Lithuanian Statistics Department. In 2021, the at-risk-of-poverty rate in Lithuania was 20%, according to Inga Masiulaityte-Sukevic, Deputy Director of the Lithuanian Statistics Department. “Compared to 2020, the at-risk-of-poverty rate has decreased by 0.9% and by 2.9% over…
Jacek Sasin, Poland’s state assets minister and a deputy prime minister, has proposed a 50% windfall tax on power companies, which have profited from rising energy prices. Energy prices in Poland have increased rapidly owing to a combination of factors, including the Ukraine war and a boycott of Russian oil and gas. “I have suggested…