RIGA - The latest round of official inflation statistics has set alarm bells ringing across the Baltic region.
September's statistics show significant increases in all three Balticstates. Compared with August, inflation rose to 7.1 percent from 5.5percent in Lithuania, 7.2 percent from 6.1 percent in Estonia and 'sworst of all 's 11.4 percent from 10.1 percent in Latvia.
Such damning numbers show that a recent warning by government ministerAigars Stokenbergs that Latvian inflation could be running at 15percent by the end of the year may even be an underestimation.
All three Baltic governments are belatedly putting newanti-inflationary plans in place, but the fear remains that it's all toolittle, too late, and that a damaging financial crash may be looming.
