But even before then, Lithuania’s monetary policy was constrained by a fixed exchange rate: from 1994 to 2002 the litas was pegged to the US dollar. The Chairman of the Board of Lietuvos bankas, Vitas Vasiliauskas, has already participated twice as an observer in the monetary policy meetings of the ECB’s Governing Council.
As of January next year, he will participate actively in the monetary policy-making of the world’s second largest economy. This shows that, in an era in which nation states are closely interlinked, sharing sovereignty means gaining sovereignty.