VILNIUS, Oct 28 – Lithuania\’s struggling economy slowed sharply in the third quarter to grow just 0.1 percent compared to the previous three months, official data showed on Thursday.
The Baltic state\’s statistics office put second quarter growth at a revised 0.5 percent.
Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius described the outcome as a "positive trend" but local analysts said growth was much less than expected.
"The numbers fell short of expectations as the growth was very weak," Jekaterina Rojaka, senior analyst at DnB Nord bank in Lithuania told AFP.
"Next year will be one of challenges in the terms of economic growth. Deficit cutting may be a blow to Lithuanian exports sector," she added.
Hard hit by the global economic crisis, the Baltic EU nation of 3.3 million people inched out of a recession last year that saw the economy shrink 14.8 percent. The government has forecast 1.6 percent growth this year.
