Ilves to Zatlers: Latvia is Not Alone With Its Worries

“The reforms and budgetary cuts that many countries are addressing, under pressure from and with the support of international organisations, are essential for improving the financial state of these countries, for their own future,” President Toomas Hendrik Ilves said at his meeting with Latvian Head of State Valdis Zatlers.
“It is only the purposeful and decisive [...]

British family acquired Latvian newspapers

Aleksandrs Tralmaks has agreed with the Rowland family on the conversion of the debt provided to Nedela S.A., and thereby the Rowland family becomes the principal investor of the Baltic Media Investments fund, announced LFS. 
In July 2009, Luxembourg based Nedela S.A. acquired from Bonnier Business Press the leading media group in Latvia, AS Diena and [...]

Investment to Latvia is surrounded by secrecy

Nedela S.A. under investment banker Kalle Norberg’s command bought Bonnier’s Latvian businesses on Friday, but the source of the money is unclear. Skype Estonian founders could have been behind the deal, according to information available to Äripäev, Äripäev reports.  Nedela S.A. is owned by Aleksandrs Tralmaks, former member of Latvian biggest daily Diena’s management board. The [...]

Latvian PM: If we devalue, then 30 pct

The decision to devalue lat is more painful than cutting budget, Latvian PM Valdis Dombrovskis told Diena, aripaev.ee cites rus.db.lv.

“If we conventionally cut everything 10 pct, which is not planned, it would be unimaginable decrease for budget. At the same time, if we’re talking of devaluation, it definitely won’t be less than 15 pct. It’ll [...]

Each Finn supports Latvia with EUR 61

Finland will give an EUR 324 mln loan to Latvia as a part of IMF’s EUR 7.5 bln aid package, aripaev.ee quotes Helsingin Sanomat.  It makes about EUR 61 per person.  It’s bigger than support given to Hungary and Ukraine and Iceland is a whole different story.
EU and IMF support Latvia with the greatest amount [...]

Latvia may lead 50% devaluation in Baltic currencies

Latvia’s weakening economy may force the nation to relax its management of the lats, spurring all three Baltic currencies to break their pegs by mid-year and fall as much as 50 percent to the euro, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. says, Bloomberg writes.
“Latvia stands out as the weakest of the three because its external debt [...]

Latvian businessman: The state has to buy the real estate with EEK 333 bln

The state of Latvia should buy all the real estate Latvians bought during the boom with LVL 15 bln (EEK 333 bln), Edgars Šins, the CEO of real estate company Latio told Dienas Bizness, aripaev.ee reports.
He believes if the state bought those homes, then the real estate market starts functioning normally again, biznews.lv quotes. The [...]

Interest rates on lats deposits – 20 %

During the last month, some banks in Latvia offered its big customers a possibility to deposit Lats with an interest rate up to 25 % p.a, Latvian daily Dienas Bizness reports.
Other bankers say such interest rates are too high and could create losses for the banks themselves. However, the banks offering high interest rates [...]

Latvian lawmakers approve wage cuts, tax increases for IMF loan

Latvian lawmakers approved austerity measures including wage cuts and an increase in value-added tax, to qualify for an aid package from the International Monetary Fund and European Commission, Bloomberg reports.
Parliament voted 57-21 in the 100-seat legislature yesterday to pass the measures, with the remaining members either absent or abstaining. The proposals include spending cuts and target [...]

Latvia’s and Estonia’s retail trade fell the most in EU

Retail trade turnover in Latvia dropped by 14.4 pct in October yoy, again registering the steepest fall among all European Union countries, reveals data, published by the EU statistical office “Eurostat” on Wednesday, LETA reports.

Estonia registered the second largest drop of retail sales – 8.5 pct down, Spain came third with retail trade volume dropping [...]