On Thursday the Prime Minister met with Chairman of the United States Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke at the headquarters of the Federal Reserve (FED). Later on, the Prime Minister met with Director of the White House’s National Economic Council Lawrence Summers, an influential adviser to President Barack Obama. Afterwards, Kubilius met with US Secretary of the Treasury Timothy F. Geithner. Minister of Finance Ingrida Šimonytė and the Prime Minister’s delegation also attended the meetings.

Chairman of the FED Bernanke and Kubilius discussed the situation of the global economy and shared thoughts on the crisis management strategy. Bernanke welcomed the stringent saving measures that helped the Lithuanian Government manage the crisis, as a result of which the country can now expect economic recovery. At the same time he regretted that not all the EU member states pursued similarly consistent budgetary policy; therefore he considered that economic recovery of the entire European Union will be delayed as compared to the Asian and the US economies. According to Bernanke, the global economy is to recover at different speeds. He said that the biggest challenge for the US economy is unemployment, which remains high, although some of the major economic indicators show its recovery.

During the meeting with the Lithuanian Prime Minister, President Obama’s economic advisor Larry Summers projected that the global economic recovery would hardly be homogeneous. In his view, the European Union\`s economic curve will be L-shaped, while that of the US, U-shaped; the Asian economy, however, will be fastest to recover and most likely will take the V shape.

Influential U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner found Kubilius’s measures for budget consolidation laudable. The Secretary said that his country was fortunate to be spared of taking similar measures, as U.S. dollar happens to be world\`s reserve currency. T. F Geithner also noted that Lithuania and other Baltic States had no choice but to take the course of austerity. \”This was a difficult, but also brave, responsible and just step by the Lithuanian Government. I admire what your Government did over the last year\”, said the U.S. Treasury Secretary to the Prime Minister Kubilius. He also noted that some other EU countries showed lack of commitment as regards tighter fiscal policy; therefore, the EU economy, unlike the Baltic States, is deemed to recover later.

During the visit the Prime Minister plans to meet with the CEOs of “Franklin Templeton”, “Oracle”, CISCO, “HP”, “Accel Partners”, IBM, “Barclay Capital” and other companies. The Prime Minister will also visit the International Republican Institute (IRI) and deliver a speech at the Stanford Business School.

Furthermore, the Prime Minister’s schedule includes meetings with United States Secretary for the Treasury Timothy Geithner, United States Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke, the executive managers of the IMF, Senator Richard Durbin, Chairman of the United States Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke, US Lithuanian community representatives, and attendance at the Prayer Breakfast meeting.
According to the Department of Statistics of Lithuania, the United States is the 12th largest investor in Lithuania, with FDI totalling EUR 261.5 million.

During the first half of 2009, Lithuania’s exports to the US amounted to EUR 171.2 million and made up 3.1 % of all Lithuania’s exports. Lithuania’s imports from the US during the first half of 2009 totalled EUR 60.5 million, making up 1.2 % of all Lithuania’s imports.
During the first half of 2009, the trade turnover between Lithuania and the US made up EUR 243.5 million. The balance of bilateral trade with the US was positive and amounted to EUR 98.8 million.