Also, the introduction in mid-1993 of a stable national currency has stimulated investment. The government focuses its efforts on stabilizing the economy, taking measures to secure supplies of energy and other vital inputs, providing a social safety net to alleviate the worst consequences of the economic depression, and combating economic crime. It has enacted legislation providing a reasonably transparent and favorable regulatory regime for private investment. Over 55,000 private, personally owned companies now exist in Lithuania, including an additional 19,000 corporations and 600 foreign-controlled businesses. To date, the state privatization agency has privatized 3,800 companies.
Monthly inflation remains in the single digits, and the new currency remains stable.