Ernst & Young: euro adoption in Latvia will serve as a signal

  • 2013-03-20
  • From wire reports

Riga - Latvia continues to successfully recover from the economic crisis and will be able to maintain 4 – 5.5 percent GDP growth throughout the 2014-2017. The country is expected to have an even more rapid economic growth than this year’s predicted 3.2 percent, according to the latest Ernst & Young Eurozone Economic Forecast.
Given Latvia’s stable economic indexes, including low inflation, it is believed that the European Commission’s recommendation regarding Latvia’s joining the eurozone will be positive, as BNN was told by Ernst & Young Baltic partner Guntars Krols.

“We need to keep in mind not only Latvia’s successful completion of all macroeconomic indexes for euro adoption, but also the political situation within the eurozone. The European Commission may be so forthcoming toward Latvia’s joining also because it would like to support Latvia as a country that managed to balance its economy and reduce budget deficit through austerity measures and reforms,” explains Krols.
According to him, this could serve as a signal to countries of the eurozone’s periphery that recipes of the European Commission do work and achieve planned results. The timely acceptance of Latvia into the eurozone would also serve as a signal for trust in the united monetary union. It would show that the eurozone is still quite healthy to continue expanding.

Ernst & Young specialists note in their Eurozone Economic Forecast that one of the main risks for Latvia’s joining could be low support for Euro within Latvia’s population.