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"I am writing my letter of resignation I will submit to the prime minister, and I will wait for his decision," the minister told the radio on Friday afternoon.

Speaking to BNS, her spokeswoman later confirmed that Salaseviciute was stepping down.

The health minister decided to resign in response to calls to do so from President Dalia Grybauskaite, Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius and fellow party members.

"If there's an opinion that I should resign, so it means I need to write my resignation letter. Some fellow party members believe so. From what I have heard, this opinion is shared by the prime minister. That's why I'm saying that I am writing my resignation letter to the prime minister so that he could sign it," Salaseviciute said, adding that she would write her resignation letter on Monday.

Earlier in the day, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said Salaseviciute should step down.

"I would think the minister should resign under the current circumstances," the president told journalists on Friday, describing the situation as "very bad".

Prime Minister Butkevicius, who's on vacation at the moment, told BNS on Friday the health minister would stepped down herself of the party would have to make the decision.

"Of course, it would better if she realized that she acted wrong and would write a resignation letter. But if she does not write the resignation letter, the party will make a necessary decision demanding that she quit," Butkevicius told BNS by phone.

Earlier on Friday, the Prosecutor General's Office said the health minister had been interviewed as a witness in a pre-trial investigation on possible corruption at a Siauliai hospital.

In an interview to the Ziniu Radijas news radio on Thursday, Salaseviciute admitted having paid a bribe to a doctor a few years ago.

"To tell you the truth, I handed a doctor an envelope (with cash) five or six years ago, as one of my closer relatives categorically refused to undergo surgery until the doctor is paid in advance – my efforts to persuade him were vain," said the health minister.

Later Salaseviciute told BNS that this had happened about a decade ago.

Salaseviciute has been heading the Health Ministry since July 17, 2014.