Despite the downward revision, Lithuania's economy will still be among the fastest-growing in the European Union and the eurozone, the ministry said in a press release.
"(Lithuania's) decreased dependence on the Russian market, a relatively stable development of Lithuania's main export markets, the EU-wide accommodative economic policy in the medium-term will provide a basis for a more robust than in 2015 and balanced growth of the Lithuanian economy," it said.
The ministry said the lower 2016 GDP growth projection reflected changes in the external environment and in the construction and agricultural sectors.
It expects Lithuania's GDP growth to accelerate to 3.2% next year due to the lower dependence on Russia's market and a recovery in external demand before slowing down slightly to 3.1% in both 2018 and 2019.
The Bank of Lithuania earlier this week revised its 2016 GDP growth forecast down to 2.6%, from 2.9% projected last December.
The Lithuanian Finance Ministry forecasts that the changing bargaining power in the labor market will improve workers' prospects for wages and that unemployment in the country will continue to ease.
In its latest macroeconomic projections, the ministry forecasts that the unemployment rate will fall to 8% this year, down from 9.1% in 2015 and down from its previous estimate of 8.8% for 2016.
It also lowered its unemployment forecast for 2017 to 7.1%, from 7.8% projected last September, and that for 2018 to 6.3%, from 6.5%.
The ministry predicts that average monthly gross earnings will grow by 5.8% this year and by 6% next year, up from its previous forecasts of 5.3%, 5.7%, respectively. The wage growth forecast for 2018 is slightly down to 6.1%, from 6.2%.
It expects that the fastest wage growth will be recorded in the private sector, particularly in high-productivity activities and those with the highest demand for labor, as well as in activities where wages are the lowest.