Adolfas Šleževičius

Who is Adolfas Šleževičius?

Adolfas Šleževičius is a former Prime Minister of Lithuania.

Previously a manager in a state dairy company, Šleževičius was appointed Prime Minister following the election of Algirdas Brazauskas as President in February 1993. At the time, Lithuania was faced with monthly inflation of 10–30% despite the demonitization of the ruble and introduction of the talonas on 1 October 1992. After initially promising large wage hikes to state workers, Šleževičius implemented a smaller increase and backed a tightening of monetary policy by the Bank of Lithuania. This brought monthly inflation down from 25% in May 1993 to 13% in May, 6% in June, and 3% in July. With this progress in stabilization, the Litas Committee announced the reintroduction of the Lithuanian litas as national currency, to take place on 25 June 1993. The exchange rate strengthened from the equivalent of over 5 litai to 3.5 litai by August 1993.

In October 1993, Šleževičius announced that the value of the litas would be fixed in a manner similar to that of the Estonian Kroon, that is, in a currency board arrangement with a fixed parity.