RIGA - In a highly publicized moment, Latvian Finance Minister Einars Repse has handed the Cabinet's "compromise budget" to parliament to be approved.
Parliament is expected to pass the budget, but it is still unclear when the final vote will take place.
"This draft is the result of long and painstaking discussions, and inthe conditions of an economic crisis it is the best possible compromisebudget," Repse said in a statement.
The budget represents months of wrangling between the Latvian government and international lenders, which had required the country cut some 500 million lats from the budget as a condition for loans.
The budget was sent to committee on Nov. 3.
