Economy / Lithuania
If you would like to subscribe to Central Europe & Baltic States Monitor and gain instant access to this article, please click here to subscribe.
If you would like to take a trial to Central Europe & Baltic States Monitor please click on the trial link below.
Macroeconomic Forecast Lithuania
May 2008 | Macroeconomic ForecastsSorry, you must be a subscriber to view this article in full. If you are a subscriber please login.
If you would like to subscribe to Central Europe & Baltic States Monitor and gain instant access to this article, please click here to subscribe.
If you would like to take a trial to Central Europe & Baltic States Monitor please click on the trial link below.
Faster export growth helped contain the growth in the current account deficit in the first two months of the year. The external gap widened by less than 9% y-o-y thanks to a 34% increase in merchandise exports. Much of the export increase reflected the return to full capacity of the Mazeikiu oil refinery at the start of the year, but sectors such as fertilisers also exhibited strong growth. With domestic demand remaining reasonably robust in the early part of the year and international commodity prices soaring, imports also increased significantly in value terms (up 27% in January-February). We expect the current account deficit to narrow to 11.0% of GDP in 2008 from 13.7% in 2007.