In its latest forecasts, the Bank of Lithuania predicts that average wages in the country will grow at an annual rate of 5.3% this year and next year.
"As measures of expectations were not deteriorating, enterprises continued to recruit more employees, while an increasingly higher number of enterprises of some economic activities expressed concerns with regard to the lack of staff. This contributed to the rise in wages," the central bank said.
"The increase of the minimum monthly wage was also a contributing factor in this growth," it said.
According to the central bank's analysts, as labor income rises at a faster rate than prices, households can significantly increase their consumption.
The Bank of Lithuania expects that unemployment will decline to 8.6% this year, from 9.1% in 2015, and will ease further to 8.3% in 2017.
