The Latvian government plans to raise the country’s minimum wage in 2025, Finance Minister Arvils Aseradens announced, LETA reports. Under the minimum wage algorithm, the monthly minimum wage will rise to EUR 740 in 2025, EUR 780 in 2026, EUR 820 in 2027, and EUR 860 in 2028. Currently, the minimum wage stands at EUR…
Raising Estonia’s defence spending to 5% of GDP would be unfeasible, Finance Minister Jürgen Ligi stated, ERR reports. Earlier, Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur suggested that NATO’s new defence plans meant that Estonia would have to raise its defence budget from the current 3% of GDP to somewhere less than 5% over a period of 20…
Lithuania’s central bank, the Bank of Lithuania, has called on Taiwan’s state-owned Bank of Taiwan (BOT) to provide as diverse banking services in Lithuania as possible, BNS reports. Earlier, business news outlet Verslo Zinios reported that BOT had obtained regulatory approval to open a representative office in Lithuania. Lukas Jakubonis, chief business development officer at…
Lithuania’s GDP growth will amount to 2.4% in 2024 and 2.6% in 2025, according to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) latest forecast, BNS reports. The country’s economic growth will be driven by the growth of real wages, public investments, and low inflation, the IMF report states. Average annual inflation will reach 1.2% in 2024, the…
The Estonian Reform Party will appoint MP Jürgen Ligi as the new finance minister in the incoming three-party coalition government, outgoing Finance Minister Mart Võrklaev announced, ERR reports. Ligi served as defence minister in 2005-2007 and finance minister in 2009-2014. He has also served as foreign minister and education minister. Moreover, Võrklaev said that Reform…
Estonian Finance Minister Mart Võrklaev suggested floating the company coordinating the Rail Baltica railway project, RB Rail, on the stock exchange to raise more funds amidst rising construction costs, ERR reports. Construction costs in Estonia alone are estimated at EUR 3.1bn, with EUR 1.2bn secured from EU funding. Võrklaev said that the government expected to have…
Lithuania will begin issuing defence bonds after 1 October 2024, Finance Minister Gintare Skaiste announced, BNS reports. The defence bonds will have a maximum interest rate of 2%, which is lower than on savings certificates. The lower rate will ensure that the state borrows for defence at a rate that is cheaper than the market…
Lithuania’s ministries of defence and finance are developing a mobile application to enable public donations for national defence, aiming for a summer rollout, BNS reports. Finance Minister Gintare Skaiste said that the app would allow for both periodic and one-off payments, similar to NGOs helping Ukraine. Earlier, the government rejected a proposal on voluntary donations…
Estonia’s Ministry of Finance plans to issue bonds specifically for Estonian citizens for the first time, allowing small investors to benefit from a fixed interest rate and trade the bonds on the Nasdaq Tallinn stock exchange, ERR reports. Finance Minister Mart Võrklaev says that the aim is to diversify the state’s funding sources and provide…