IMF cuts forecast for Lithuania growth due to Russia

VILNIUS: Lithuania's economy will grow more slowly than expected this year partly due to recession in neighbour Russia, the International Monetary Fund said in a new forecast on Wednesday.

Lithuania, which became the euro zone's newest member at the start of the year, should see growth of 2.8 percent this year, lower than the previous forecast of 3.1 per cent, IMF Mission Chief Christoph Klingen told reporters.

"I would like to emphasize that 2.8 per cent is still a very, good number," Klingen said.

Around 21 per cent of Lithuania's exports went to Russia in 2014. Klingen said that much of this was re-exports and that the impact on Lithuania's economy was relatively limited.