Estonia’s Ministry of Finance has proposed postponing the introduction of a unified tax-free income threshold until 2026, ERR reports. The ministry said that the move would ensure that Estonia’s state budget deficit did not exceed 3% as required under EU law. Under the current system, gross income of EUR 1,200 per month is exempt from…
Average housing prices in Latvia rose by 1.1% in the second quarter of 2024 from the same period of 2023, according to provisional data from the Central Statistical Bureau (CSP), LSM reports. Prices of new housing increased by 11.4%, whereas the average price of existing housing dropped by 2.0% over a year. Compared to the first…
The Estonian government has agreed to provide EUR 160mn of state support for large-scale export-oriented investments in Estonia over 2025-2028, ERR reports. Economy and Industry Minister Erkki Keldo said that the support mechanism was aimed at regaining Estonia’s competitiveness in attracting investors to knowledge-intensive sectors of the economy. The scheme will be managed by the…
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis criticised other EU member states for continuing to do business with China, BNS reported. Speaking after a meeting with US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell in Vilnius, Landsbergis noted that Lithuania was an example that it was “possible to survive without Russian gas and Chinese contracts.” He warned Lithuania’s…
Latvia’s state debt will remain below 50% of GDP in the coming years, Kaspars Abolins, head of the Latvian State Treasury, assured, LETA reports. Currently, the state debt stands at slightly over EUR 18bn, which is around 44% of GDP and one of the lowest in the EU, Abolins noted. The State Treasury expects the…
The number of job vacancies in the Baltic States rose in Lithuania but fell in Latvia and Estonia in the second quarter of 2024, according to Latvia’s Central Statistical Bureau (CSP), LSM reports. Compared to a year earlier, the number of vacancies increased by 3.3% in Lithuania, but declined by 5.6% in Latvia and 10.6% in…
Demand for new Estonian government bonds totalled EUR 821mn, which was four times more than the EUR 200mn offered, the Ministry of Finance announced, ERR reports. Altogether 28 professional investors and 7,304 retail investors participated in the public bond offering. Retail investors subscribed to bonds worth EUR 29mn and will receive 100% of the amount…
Lithuania’s GDP will grow by 2.3% in 2024 and 2.9% in 2025, according to the Finance Ministry’s revised forecast, BNS reports. In June 2024, the ministry projected that the GDP would grow by 2.1% in 2024 and 2.9% in 2025. Average annual inflation will slow down to 1.0% (1.1%) in 2024, before rising to 2.5%…
Estonia’s services exports totalled EUR 3.1bn at current prices in the second quarter of 2024, which was up 3% from the same period of 2023, according to Statistics Estonia and the Bank of Estonia, ERR reports. Imports of services totalled EUR 2.3bn, which was up 3% as well. The balance of Estonia’s foreign trade in…
