Lithuania asks World Bank to reclassify Baltic states as developed countries

Since the restoration of independence in the early 1990s, the World Bank had been a steady and important supporter of the efforts made by Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in order to reorganize and strengthen the region in economic and political terms, the minister said at a meeting in Helsinki on Wednesday.

“This year, Lithuania has joined the euro area and the Baltic states have been symbolically united once again. Now it would be logical to complete one more transformation – the upgrade of the Baltic countries’ status with the World Bank to donors, from beneficiaries…,” a press release from the Finance Ministry quoted Šadžius as saying.

According to the ministry, Jim Yong Kim said that the World Bank would consider this request of the Baltic countries.

The Baltic countries presented their common stance officially back in 2014. Transition of the three countries from the ECA office, coordinating the emerging countries in the ECA region, to the Paris office, coordinating the World Bank’s relations with the developed countries, was initiated thereafter.