Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania and the Vice-President of the European Commission emphasize the importance of structural reforms
Economic recovery in the euro area has been strengthening; however, to ensure sustainable economic growth, every country must implement structural reforms, spoke Valdis Dombrovskis, Vice-President of the European Commission (EC), and Vitas Vasiliauskas, Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania, on Tuesday.
“With the accession to the euro Lithuania has turned the page in the history. One of the most important tasks for the Lithuanian authorities in coming years is to continue the income convergence with the rest of Europe. The bottom line of all our economic policies is to improve the wellbeing of our citizens. To ensure that people in Lithuania and in the whole Europe feel the recovery and are confident about the future,” – says V. Dombrovskis.
“The accommodating policy of the ECB and of the euro area national central banks is already giving fruit; however, monetary policy instruments alone are not sufficient to ensure enduring economic growth. It is important that the governments do not wait for a crisis to implement necessary structural reforms,” says the Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania, Vitas Vasiliauskas.
Valdis Dombrovskis, Vice-President of the European Commission, and Vitas Vasiliauskas, Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania (Photo V. Skaraitis, BFL)
According to him, specific recipes for increasing competitiveness and seeking sustainable growth have already for a number of years been prescribed by the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and other authorities; however, there is a lack of determination to implement their recommendations to the full extent.
The meeting participants discussed the EU yearly cycle of economic policy coordination, the so-called European semester, the latest EC recommendations for Lithuania in the economic policy area, as well as the most recent economic forecasts of the EC and the Bank of Lithuania.
In 2009–2014 V. Dombrovskis was the Prime Minister of Latvia, from 1 November 2014 he works as the Vice-President of the EC, responsible for the Euro and Social Dialogue.