Maurico’s advice to the state: demands specific opening objectives

The bank’s chief economist, Sigismund Maurico, advises the government not to focus on statistics, but to set specific publication goals: for example, open catering outside of Easter and stick to that goal, unless the epidemiological situation is completely bad.

“To say some date – from the first of April we open, or immediately after Easter, if we don’t want during Easter, we open, let’s say, public outdoor catering and everything – regardless of the epidemiological situation,” said BNS. Mauricas.

According to him, without setting specific goals, negative consequences can be achieved.

“Because if you keep kicking that can on the road, it’s kind of a comfortable position in part, from a political perspective, but it can have a lot of negative consequences in the long run, especially undermining that confidence. And you can already see several signs that the shadow it is growing very strongly, “said BNS. Mauricas.

In his opinion, it is necessary to constantly monitor the decisions of neighboring countries and not lose them in the competitive fight, because a country that has released its restrictions too late can also lose its workforce, especially young people.

“We really cannot afford to open later than other countries, especially those that Lithuanians emigrate. This must also be understood, because we as a small open economy are neither Norway, which does not have such challenges, nor Germany,” he said. Ž. Mauricas.

According to him, when other countries begin to “open up” en masse, young people can decide to work where there are opportunities. According to the expert, in some countries the economy can “rebound very quickly like a spring” and will need workers.

“Now youth unemployment in Lithuania is higher than the European Union average. And most young people still work in leisure services, restaurants and the like, at least while studying. They may think (…), for example , travel the world, see how someone is there, work in another place ”, Ž. Mauricas.

According to him, in general, the European Union, and consequently Lithuania, is characterized by the view that quarantine is a normal state, at a time when, for example, the United States considers quarantine to be an unusual situation.

Eurostat announces that unemployment in Lithuania increased 3.4 points during the year and was 9.6% in January. Unemployment in the EU reached an average of 7.3%. Unemployment among young people under 25 years of age in Lithuania increased by 12.6 points to 18.2% during the year, reaching 16.9% in the whole of the EU.

In January 143,000 were unemployed in Lithuania. people, of which 20 thousand. He was a young man under 25 years of age. According to preliminary data, 15.7 million people were without work across the EU. people.