e-year term;
election last held 21 December 1997 and 5 January 1998 (next to be
held NA 2003); premier appointed by the president on the approval of
the Parliament
election results: Valdas ADAMKUS elected president; percent of
vote--Valdas ADAMKUS 50.37%, Arturas PAULAUSKAS 49.7%

Legislative branch: unicameral Parliament or Seimas (141 seats,
71 members are directly elected by popular vote, 70 are elected by
proportional representation; members serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 20 October and 10 November 1996 (next to be
held NA October 2000)
election results: percent of vote by party--NA; seats by party--TS 69,
LKDP 15, LCS 15, LDDP 12, LSDP 10, DP 2, independents 12, others 6

Judicial branch: Supreme Court, judges appointed by the
Parliament; Court of Appeal, judges appointed by the Parliament

Political parties and leaders: Christian Democratic Party or LKDP

Political pressure groups and leaders: Lithuanian Future Forum

International organization participation: BIS, CBSS, CCC, CE,
EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EU (applicant), FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU,
ICRM, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user),
Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, OPCW, OSCE,
PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WEU (associate partner), WHO, WIPO,
WMO, WTrO (applicant)

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Stasys SAKALAUSKAS
chancery: 2622 16th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009
consulate(s) general: Chicago and New York

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Keith C. SMITH
embassy: Akmenu 6, 2600 Vilnius
mailing address: American Embassy, Vilnius, PSC 78, Box V, APO AE
09723

Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of yellow (top),
green, and red

Economy

Economy--overview: Lithuania has benefited from its disciplined
approach to market reform and its adherence to strict fiscal and
monetary policies imposed by the IMF, measures that have helped
constrain the growth of the money supply, reduce inflation to 5.1%,
and support GDP growth of 6% in 1997 and 4.5% in 1998. Foreign
direct investment and the privatization program maintained their
momentum in 1998. However, the current account deficit has hovered
around 8% to 10% of GDP annually since 1995--the result of greater
demand for consumer goods and falling growth in exports. Reducing
this deficit is the i