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At the beginning of August on the initiative of Poland, nine EU countries proposed a change in the EU methodology of public debt calculation. The new method is intended to make a distinction between a public debt and pension system liabilities. The application of the new method would increase the chances of fulfilling the criteria for entrance to the eurozone for these countries but on the other hand may weaken their determination in making public finance reforms. more »
On 12 June in Riga a foundation congress of the union For a Better Latvia was held. The union is made up of parties run by Latvian oligarchs and a host of business people that support them. The reason behind the establishment of a new coalition is the poor results of these parties, blamed to a large degree by society on Latvia's economic crisis. The new name and populist slogans backed by strong financial and media resources will probably allow the unpopular new parties of oligarchs to maintain representation in parliament after the parliamentary election scheduled for 2 October 2010. more »
On 6 March the founding congress of the Unity party (Vienotiba) was held in Riga. The new party is composed of the conservative-national Civic Alliance, the Liberal New Era Party and the centrist Association for Different Politics. These parties, despite differences in their programmes and the personal ambitions of their leaders, allied themselves against common political opponents – the Harmony Centre backed by the Russian minority and parties linked with Latvian oligarchs. Vienotiba will be one of the favourites at the parliamentary elections scheduled for October 2010 and it seems that it is the only one that stands a chance of combating the Harmony Centre that has been leading opinion polls for many months now. more »
The Latvian parliament adopted a 2010 budget on 1 December. To maintain the budget deficit within the limit agreed with the IMF (it should not be higher than 8.5% of GDP in 2010) Riga has been forced to cut budget expenses and carry out structural reforms painful for society. more »
The State Audit Office published at the beginning of October a report pointing to a series of mistakes made during the bailout deal from the end of last year, which has already cost Latvian taxpayers nearly EUR 1 billion. The report's conclusions and press articles indicate that some decisions made by the government of Ivars Godmanis during the bailout process caused losses for the country and brought profits to former bank owners - Latvian oligarchs Valerijs Karginsov and Viktorsov Krasovickis. The report was handed to the prosecutor's office which has been looking into the circumstances of the Parex bank bailout since July this year. more »
