Lithuania's CPI rises 0.3 pct in August from July

Sep 10, 2007 - Consumer prices in Lithuania grew at an annual rate of 5.5% in August, the Department of Statistics Lithuania, said Monday. This compares with the 5.1% rise in consumer prices in the previous month. On a monthly basis, consumer prices edged up 0.3% in August, slowing from 0.7% increase in July. The rate of inflation in August was the fastest in ten years, the Danske Bank said.

In August, annual inflation was pushed by 10.5% climb in prices of food products and non-alcoholic beverages, while housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuel prices jumped 11.4%. Clothing and footwear prices eased 4.8%, while communication prices slumped 7%.

Over the month, prices of food products and non-alcoholic beverages gained 0.3% in August, propelled by a 5.3% increase in the prices of milk, dairy products and cheeses; while prices of food products and non-alcoholic beverages advanced 1.1% in the previous month. Alcoholic drinks and tobacco products climbed 1.9% in August, while prices in the sector gained 0.6% in the last month.

Clothing and footwear prices slipped 0.3% in August, after falling 3% in the earlier month. Transport prices dropped 0.3% in August, sliding from a 0.9% growth in the preceding month. Petrol prices slumped 4.9%, while diesel prices slipped 0.2% and prices of local passenger road transport services dropped 5.2%. Communication prices eased 0.1% following the 0.6% drop in communications prices in the previous month. Prices of data processing equipment slipped 3.2%, while prices of telephone and fax machines eased 1.3%.

The overheating of the economy with annual wage growth of over 20% continued to be a cause for worry, the Danske Bank observed. “Lithuania has a relatively large current account deficit, around 10% of GDP, a credit growth of more than 50% annually, negative real interest rates and low exports-to-imports. This, along with the inflationary pressures, adds further to the rather unsustainable outlook for the economy, and urgent policy measures to curb inflation are still needed,” according to the Danske Bank.

Lithuanian H1 GDP up 8.1 pct

Jul 27, 2007 - Lithuania's gross domestic product grew by 8.1 pct in the first half of this year compared with a year earlier to reach 43.552 billion litas (12.53 bln eur), the Statistics Department reported.

GDP per capita stood at 12,880 litas.

In the second quarter, the annual GDP growth rate was 8 pct.

Lithuanian Q1 GDP growth 8.3 pct

May 29, 2007 - Lithuania's gross domestic product grew by 8.3 pct in January-March compared to the same period a year ago, according to adjusted data from the the national department of statistics.

The department said GDP growth in the first quarter had beaten the figure of 7.1 pct, which it had given in a preliminary report.

The GDP in the quarter totaled 20.481 bln litas (5.93 bln eur) in real prices, it said.

The construction sector, which grew by 43.0 pct in the first quarter, contributed the most to the surge of GDP in January-March 2007.