Lithuania records first post-crisis growth

VILNIUS - Lithuania has at long last begun to pull out of the economic crisis that has crippled the country since 2008 as the official statistics agency recorded the first quarter of economic growth in almost two years.

On July 28, Statistics Lithuania reported that the second quarter saw a 1.1 percent year-on-year growth in GDP. This was coupled with an impressive 6.6 percent growth quarter-on-quarter.

"Statistics Lithuania informs that, according to available statistical data and econometric models, GDP estimated amounted to LTL 24286 4 million at current prices and, compared to II quarter 2009, increased by 1.1 percen," the statistics agency said in a press release. 

Lithuania's economy, along with that of neigboring Latvia, was one of the hardest hit in the EU. The economic decline seems to have abated, however, with most analysts predicting accelerating growth trends throughout the rest of the year and into 2011.

Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius welcomed the news, saying the statistics confirmed that Lithuania's economic crisis was at an end.

“This confirms that we are going in the right direction and that the Lithuanian economy is exiting the crisis," the prime minister told Bloomberg news agency.

In Q1 2010, Lithuania's GDP contracted by 2.8 percent.