Gintarė Skaistė, The Banker’s Finance Minister of the Year 2022, talks to Kit Gillet about the current state of the Lithuanian economy and how the country has further cut its ties with Russia.

With non-performing loan ratios remaining low and strong fundamentals, the Baltic country’s banks are well-prepared for a potentially challenging year ahead with rising inflation, energy concerns and geopolitical tensions. 

Access to NextGenerationEU funds and plans to create a pan-Baltic capital market will help the country overcome current challenging economic conditions.

Bank of Lithuania board chairman talks about the Baltic state’s economic recovery, the fintech revolution and regional co-operation for combating money laundering.

Recognising there is strength in numbers, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are joining together to created a pan-Baltic capital market, with covered bonds the first product planned. Michael Turner reports.

Private equity investment in central and eastern Europe could be set to increase as investors look to capture the region’s potential as its economies return to growth. 

Central and eastern European banks in the EU faced a sluggish 2013, but Poland led the region in terms of growth and the Czech Republic in terms of returns. Baltic banks are also starting to rise to the challenge.

Lithuania became the 19th country to adopt the euro as its currency in January, joining Baltic neighbours Latvia and Estonia. But what benefits can the country expect to see from this move?

After a deep recession and housing bust in 2008 and a number of subsequent corporate governance crises, Lithuanian banks are finally returning to a steady footing, helped in no small measure by the presence of risk-averse Scandinavian lenders in the country.