Feb 08, 2012 - Vilks in U.S. on bond-selling mission...
RIGA - A Latvian delegation led by Finance Minister Andris Vilks (Unity) is visiting the United States to discuss the issue of Latvian eurobonds at meetings with prospective investors, reports LETA. Similar meetings are also planned in Europe, and Vilks will return to Latvia only next week.
The State Treasury is considering issuing eurobonds this year, the exact time of the issue and the conditions thereof will be set depending on the situat...
Feb 08, 2012 - Estonian economy flat in Q4...
TALLINN - Estonia’s economy probably expanded 5 to 6 percent from a year earlier in the fourth quarter, the Finance Ministry said, citing slower electronics exports and warmer weather, reports Bloomberg.
The $19 billion economy probably “was little changed” compared with the previous quarter on a seasonally adjusted basis, Madis Aben, an analyst with the Ministry’s fiscal policy department in the capital, Tallinn, sai...
Feb 08, 2012 - Borg tells Latvia to not delay euro track...
RIGA - During a meeting with Latvian Finance Minister Andris Vilks (Unity) in Riga on Feb. 1, Swedish Finance Minister Anders Borg urged Latvia not to delay its goal of joining the euro-zone in 2014, reports LETA. During the meeting, Borg wished to hear Latvia’s vision and predictions on economic development.
Vilks spoke about Latvia’s accomplishments, and confirmed that Latvia has learned from the crisis and taken care of the pr...
Feb 02, 2012 - Latvia receives ratings boost...
RIGA - The Japanese credit rating agency Rating and Investment Information, Inc. (R&I) has upgraded Latvia’s credit rating from BB+ to BBB-, reports LETA. The rating outlook is stable, says the Finance Ministry.
The Ministry explains that, by taking this step, R&I also restores Latvia’s credit rating at the level of investments. Therefore it is an important assessment of Latvia’s potential for economic developmen...
Feb 02, 2012 - Bank on Lithuania under cyber attack...
VILNIUS - Early in the morning of Jan. 27, a cyber attack was launched against the information systems of the Bank of Lithuania in order to interrupt the functioning of its Web site and other services provided online, the Bank said in a statement, reports ELTA. The Bank says that the attacks were made from Russia, the Ukraine, Switzerland, China, USA, Canada and other states.
The cyber attack launched against the bank was of the DDoS (Dis...

Feb 02, 2012 - Q4 Lithuanian GDP slowdown sends warning signal...
VILNIUS - SEB forecasts that in 2012 Lithuanian GDP should increase by 2 percent, reports ELTA. Economist Gitanas Nauseda, adviser to SEB’s president, says, in terms of musical language, that given the present situation it is very hard to say how smoothly the Lithuanian macroeconomic orchestra will perform the four parts (quarters) of the 2012 concert, as there is too much uncertainty both inside and outside the country.
However, th...

Jan 25, 2012 - Latvia records sharp producer price increase...
RIGA - Compared to 2010, the overall level of producer prices in Latvian industry in 2011 increased by 7.7 percent, according to the data of the Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia, reports Nozare.lv.
Prices of products sold on the domestic market grew by 8.7 percent last year, while prices of exported goods rose by 6.2 percent.
Major price increases were observed in the manufacture of chemicals and chemical products (by 25.7 percent), ...

Jan 25, 2012 - Companies avoid tax through loans...
TALLINN - Although foreign companies have started to finally withdraw the profits they have built up in Estonia through dividend payments, a report on those dividend-paying companies that belong to foreign owners shows small levels of payments compared to the profits accumulated in the companies and the sums transferred out of Estonia as loans to their parent companies, reports Aripaev.
Company profits in Estonia remain tax-free as long as...