2005-03-22
Lithuania’s preparation and the plans of the Bank of Lithuania concerning the adoption of the euro were presented by Mr Darius Petrauskas, Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania, to foreign investors in Vilnius on 21st of March.
In his review of how Lithuania was complying with the Maastricht economic convergence criteria and prospects of meeting them, the Deputy Governor pointed out that the price stability requirement posed the biggest challenge. While the development of oil prices caused some concern, there was sufficient ground to believe that Lithuania would meet its target of adopting the euro on 1 January 2007, he said.
Mr Petrauskas presented the Bank of Lithuania estimate: the average 12-month annual inflation in mid-2006 should be around 2.6 per cent in Lithuania and would meet the requirement for the adoption of the euro.
As Mr Petrauskas noted, “the prospects of meeting the price stability criterion under the baseline scenario are fair, provided that the national authorities will stand ready for policy measures, such as rigid control of administered prices and fiscal consolidation.”
This specialised event for the largest institutional investors of the SEB group was organised in the capital of Lithuania on 21-22 of March by the SEB (Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken), a Swedish financial institution, together with AB Vilniaus bankas. Among the participants of the conference were representatives of the largest financial groups, such as Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and UBS, financial institutions Merrill Lynch and Swedbank, the rating agency Standard & Poor’s, and other foreign banks and companies.
The purpose of the event was to present the Baltic and other East European markets, their historical development, future prospects and the activities of the SEB in these markets.