VILNIUS, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Lithuanian voters will elect a new president on Sunday. The country is in economic recession caused by the current international financial crisis.

    The European Union's budget commissioner Dalia Grybauskaite is the front-runner among the seven candidates. She has pledged to tackle the Baltic country's economic crisis as a top priority.

    Lithuania's central bank said on Thursday that the economy was likely to see a sharp shrinkage of 15.6 percent this year, the worst among the 27-nation EU.

    Lithuania has enjoyed the reputation of being one of the fast-growing economic "Baltic Tigers," notably since joining the EU in 2004. The other two "Tigers" are Latvia and Estonia.

    Economic growth in the country was 7.8 percent in 2006 and hit a record 8.9 percent the following year, but slowed to 3 percent in 2008, after the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis in the autumn of 2007 spread to the European continent.

    The situation has been getting worse ever since Western European countries began withdrawing their capital from Central Europe amid the economic crisis.

    According to the country's central bank's forecast it will take Lithuania two to three years to recover. The economy is likely to contract 4.5 percent in 2010.

    The bank also predicted that the country's jobless rate would increase to 11.6 percent this year from the current 8.7 percent and surge to 13.4 percent in 2010.

    Both the government and the private sector have cut salaries to save spending. The overall income reduction is expected to be 12.3 percent this year and 5.2 percent next year.

    In January, thousands of people, enraged by rising unemployment and lower incomes, staged a protest in the capital against the government's anti-crisis policies.

    During her election campaign as an independent candidate, Grybauskaite said she could see the financial crisis having a great effect on her country, and she could "no longer remain on the outside."

    Although having criticized previous administrations for their economic policies, she said she backed current Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius and his plan to cut the government budget. But she said the plan needs revision.

    According to Lithuanian election law, if none of the candidates manage to secure 50 percent of the votes cast in Sunday's election, a second round will be held on June 7.

    A latest opinion poll showed Grybauskaite was very likely to win in the first round. If she wins, she will become Lithuania's first female head of state.

    In Lithuania, the president is elected for a period of five years and no one can be elected more than twice. Current President Valdas Adamkus will end his tenure at the end of June.