Lithuanian president suggests raising minimum monthly wages to 261 euros

"It is my belief that the increase of 100 litas would fully serve its purpose," the president told journalists on Thursday.

In her words, the step is made possible by Lithuania's economic development.

"Lithuania's economy has been growing for two consecutive years. Talking about extreme consequences of the crisis would probably be a bit too severe," Grybauskaitė noted.

In comment of the government's argumentation that raising the minimum wages would also entail liberalization of labor relations, the president said the Cabinet had three and a half years for the task.

"I believe there's no direct relation between some things. And the government had three and a half years to liberalize business conditions, especially during the crisis," she said.

On Tuesday, the trilateral council proposed that the government considers raising the minimum wage to 900 litas. The government-proposed amendments to the Labor Code aimed at liberalizing labor relations were not addressed.

After the steep decline of the gross domestic product (GDP) by nearly 15 percent in 2009, Lithuania's economic development recovered when the GDP grew 1.4 percent in 2010. Last year, the economy expanded by 5.9 percent, with 2.5-percent growth expected in 2012.