Analytics, Banks, Direct Speech, EU – Baltic States, Financial Services, Lithuania

Vitas Vasiliauskas, who will deliver a speech at a seminar hosted by Slovenia's central bank on May 19-20, believes that stimulus reserves should be sought in the fiscal and debt management policies of countries in the region, the Bank of Lithuania said in a press release on Thursday.

"We see possibilities for pulling the economy out of its lethargy and achieve a steady economic growth in the future, but that requires a strong political will and a clear commitment of countries to use fiscal stimulus," he was quoted as saying in the press release.

According to Vasiliauskas, central banks' accommodative monetary policies have improved financial markets' confidence and reduced borrowing costs for states, businesses and households, and lending is recovering.

However, monetary policy measures alone may not be sufficient to overcome the problem of the too-slow economic recovery.

"The eurozone drama is going on for too long. In an effort to bring it to a happy ending, we should incorporate tax and public debt management measures into the economic stimulus package, along with the ECB's monetary policy measures," Vasiliauskas said.

"The existing fiscal policy rules should be simpler and clearer and the assessment of compliance with these rules should be more transparent and more rigorous," he said.

Also participating in the seminar are the central bank governors of Belgium, Estonia, Latvia, Slovenia and other countries, and officials from the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission, as well as representatives of the academic community and the media.