(Bloomberg) -- As Germany and other European nations recorded huge plunges in economic output last quarter, one corner of the euro area reported what its central bank boss described as a “pleasant surprise.”
That's something of an understatement. While Lithuania enacted similar coronavirus lockdowns to the rest of the continent, its gross domestic product fell by a mere 3.8% from a year earlier between April and June. At the same time, Europe's biggest economy contracted 11.7%. Belgium and Austria shrank by even more.
“There's more scope for optimism than we anticipated in March or April,” Lithuanian central bank Governor Vitas Vasiliauskas said.
Among the worst hit in the 2008 financial crisis, the Baltic country of 2.8 million people is on course to be one of the European Union's best performers this time around. Thursday's data prompted talk that economic-rescue measures should even be scaled back.
“Amazing!” said Zygimantas Mauricas, chief economist at Luminor Bank in Vilnius. “Unlike the rest of the world, Lithuania is experiencing the smallest recession since World War II. If this continues, I can't rule out a positive full-year result.”
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