Inflation

Food prices in Lithuanian supermarkets have grown because retailers have increased their margins, according to Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius.

Wage growth and domestic consumption is putting inflationary pressure on prices in Lithuania, economists say. Annual inflation, which stood at 0.9% in February, could reach 2% by the end of the year.

The annual inflation rate in Lithuania rose to 0.7% in January of this year, according to the latest figures from Eurostat.

A higher minimum wage, which will increase again in July, will inevitably lead to higher service prices, according to economists. Experts expect inflation to accelerate alongside growing pay.

Lithuania's average monthly inflation, calculated based on the harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP), is projected to be negative and stand at minus 0.2%, compared with prices recorded in November.

As many as 65 percent of Lithuanians, most of them younger people (aged 15-34 years), say they are already used to changes after the euro adoption, the latest survey for September has shown. However, compared to February's survey, considerably more respondents believe that prices of goods and servic...

On 28 May, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation with Lithuania. It considered and endorsed the staff appraisal without a meeting, the organisation reports.

The European Commission (EC) announced in its Spring 2015 Economic Forecast that Lithuania's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow by 2.8 percent, whereas domestic consumption should be the major factor determining economic growth.

SEB bank has not revised Lithuania's projected gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate for 2015 and 2016, leaving it at 2.6 and 3.5 percent respectively. As before, fiscal deficit is expected to account for 1.5 percent of the GDP in 2015 and 0.5 percent in 2016.

In January the prices of consumer goods and services declined by 1.5% in annual terms and by 1.3% in monthly terms. This was the biggest annual deflation since 2003. Average annual inflation was at 0%.

Lithuania's statistics office says that euro adoption could have been among the reasons behind a rise in service prices at the start of this year, but adds that the changeover had no impact on prices of goods.

Lithuania's economy is expected to maintain growth of 3.0 percent in 2015, despite a fall in exports to Russia. Domestic demand is set to remain the main growth engine, as employment and real disposable incomes rise. Inflation stays low and public finances improve slightly, the European Commission s...

In 2014, annual deflation was running at 0.3 percent in Lithuania.

An increase in services prices in Lithuania last year was due to growing wages rather than to euro adoption, Finance Minister Rimantas Šadžius said on Thursday.

Statistics Lithuania forecasts that monthly deflation measured by the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) is likely to be zero in January and amount to 0.0 percent, compared to December 2014.

In the last month of 2014 the prices of consumer goods and services declined by 0.3% in annual terms and by 0.6% in monthly terms. On average consumer prices were 0.1% higher in 2014 than in 2013.

Current average annual inflation in Lithuania is at its lowest since 2010, according to financial experts, a situation that is particularly favourable to the currency changeover.

According to Statistics Lithuania, based on the harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP), the monthly inflation calculated for November and compared to October is likely to stand at 0 percent.

In October the prices of consumer goods and services increased by 0.1%, both in annual and in monthly terms. Average annual inflation remained at 0.2% in October and was 1.2 percentage points lower than a year ago.