Finance minister feels foreign banks' interest in Lithuania

VILNIUS – Lithuanian Finance Minister Gintare Skaiste says she feels the interest of foreign banks in the Lithuanian market, adding, however, the emergence of a new bank in the country may take time.

"We are trying to have additional players in the banking sector in our country because it is very concentrated. I think it's a good business opportunity, and we have interests from different private sector players, but, anyway, it's their private decision," the finance minister told reporters on Friday. "I think it might happen because interest is really present, but the outcome is not so fast because it takes time."

Speaking at a joint press conference with her German counterpart Christian Lindner, Skaiste stressed that various banks from different countries, including Germany and Poland, were considering setting up in Lithuania.

For his part, the German minister said he had no information on German banks planning activities in Lithuania, adding that this "decision is for the private sector to make“, but there are "no obstacles from the German government“.

"We support the European single market in which German banks are engaged across the European Union," he said when asked whether German banks could come to Lithuania with the planned German army brigade.

In late September, the central Bank of Lithuania announced that a new foreign bank would come to Lithuania in the near future, but it did not name a specific bank.

According to the Bank of Lithuania, 13 banks currently have bank or specialized bank licenses in Lithuania, and there are also six branches of foreign banks.