"Export growth is interlinked with industrial growth. Two-thirds of industrial production are exported. The industrial success continues to depend on the performance in export markets, and that stable industrial and export growth gives support to statements that companies' competitiveness has increased," Nerijus Mačiulis, the chief economist at Swedbank, told BNS.
Vilija Tauraitė, economist at SEB Bankas, also said that export growth is attributable to industrial performance, but noted that wages are growing slowly because of that.
Mačiulis said that there is a possibility of Lithuanian exports exceeding its imports for the first time ever.
"The foreign trade deficit has narrowed sharply. If this trend continues and exports rise at a much faster rate than imports, we may see the export of goods surpassing the import of goods, something we have never seen before. Perhaps even in the third quarter of this year," he told BNS.
If Lithuania did not have to import so many energy resources, the country would be among the world's leaders with a foreign trade surplus of several percent or even ten percent of the gross domestic product, Mačiulis said.
Tauraitė doubts if this is possible, saying that Lithuania's economy is too dependent on energy imports and too small.
Lithuania's exports rose by 10.1 percent in the eight months through August compared with a year ago to 49.457 billion litas (EUR 14.33 b) and its imports went up by 6.9 percent to 54.769 billion litas. Lithuania's foreign trade deficit for January through August narrowed by 16 percent year-on-year to 5.312 billion litas, data from the country's statistics office showed on Wednesday.
