Kubilius maintains euro target

VILNIUS - Lithuania wants to join the euro “as soon as possible,” even as members of the currency bloc struggle through the region’s sovereign debt crisis, says Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius, reports Bloomberg. “We have a very clear goal to join the euro as soon as possible,” Kubilius said on Sept. 30 in an interview in Copenhagen. “The best outcome is to join the euro, even with the euro’s problems at the moment.”

Lithuania was the first country to have its bid to adopt the euro rejected, in 2006, because its inflation rate was too high. The budget deficit, which was 8.9 percent of gross domestic product last year, almost three times the European Union limit, is now the biggest hurdle to the currency switch.
The government aims to slash the shortfall to about 5.6 percent of GDP in 2011 by controlling spending, boosting revenue from state-owned enterprises and cracking down on the shadow economy to increase tax collection, Kubilius said. Lithuania has set a target of joining the euro in 2014.

The Economy Ministry and Kubilius have backed a plan to improve returns from state assets by putting its 300 companies into a single holding company, shielding them from political influence and increasing transparency. Finance Minister Ingrida Simonyte said Sept. 15 the overhaul of state enterprises may raise 1.5 billion litas (434.7 million euros) for the budget in two years.

The proposal has been criticized by both the ruling coalition and the opposition. “The holding structure is not the issue,” Kubilius said. “We want to introduce better corporate governance in the state-owned companies. The consolidation of assets into one company is a not a goal, it’s a tactical move.”

Lithuania’s economy, which shrank 15 percent last year, will expand 1.5 percent to 2 percent in 2010, driven by exports, Kubilius said. Exports increased 32.5 percent from a year earlier in July on fuels and plastics, the statistics office said Sept. 9. “The recovery is really very steady,” Kubilius said, adding that “Next year will be easier.”
The Finance Ministry estimates growth may average 1.6 percent this year. The government has “very limited instruments” to stem rising food prices, Kubilius said. The Finance Ministry said Sept. 7 that consumer prices may rise 1.1 percent this year, reversing an earlier forecast for deflation. “Inflation is not a problem yet,” Kubilius said. “We don’t see objective reasons for a big increase in inflation. We’re asking our competitive authorities to look into the market. We’ll try to make sure that somebody doesn’t use factors like the climate to increase prices.”