He expects the growth of the country’s economy to slow down in the second half of 2013.
“The growth [in the second quarter] met our expectations, although we believed that the growth rate could be a little higher, 4.3–4.4 percent. In the first half, Orlen’s refinery, which was shut down for maintenance in the spring of 2012, contributed additionally to the growth… Another factor is agriculture with its impressive performance. All that added extra 1 percent,” Mauricas told BNS.
According to the analyst, Nordea expected the economy to grow at a somewhat faster rate, yet Lithuania might still be able to achieve 4-percent growth projected for this year despite the slowdown forecast for the second half of the year. “We expect the growth to reach approximately 3.5 percent [in the second half].”
Lithuania’s GDP grew by 4.2 percent in the first half of this year from the same period a year ago.
Some analysts believe that Lithuania’s economic growth is still driven by exports but the recovering domestic market will have an increasing impact on the country’s economic development in the future.
