VILNIUS, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Lithuania's GDP is projected to grow by 3.7 percent this year and decelerate to 2.5 percent in 2020 due to global headwinds, the country's central bank said in a new report published on Wednesday.
"Ongoing trade tensions have weighed on international trade, which sooner or later will undoubtedly have an effect on our open economy," Raimondas Kuodis, deputy chair of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania, was quoted as saying in a bank's statement.
Economic activity in Lithuania has been spurred by investment, absorption of EU funds and favorable market conditions this year, the central bank said. So far the economic growth has been stronger than previously anticipated despite the worsening international environment, however, such trends are bound to reverse, the report read.
According to the bank, the gloomy outlook has been exacerbated by the Brexit process.
While labor market conditions remain favorable to workers this year, wages have been growing rapidly, by 8.5 percent in 2019. However, the growth will decline to 6.7 percent in 2020 due to positive migration flows and a more cautious stance regarding demand for workers as global uncertainties elevate, the central bank projected.
As reported earlier, Lithuania's Ministry of Finance expected the country's GDP to increase by 3.7 percent this year and to slow down to 2.4 percent in 2020.
