Brussels, 28/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - The Latvian parliament will vote on ratification of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) at the end of the week.
Joining the single currency does not mean automatically joining the ESM, whose managing director, Klaus Regling, says that Latvia's adhesion is expected in the first half of March. He said that Latvia's contribution to the ESM would be “€1.9 billion, including €220 million of paid-in capital”. He added that “by April, the ESM will reach more than €80 billion of paid-in capital, the highest paid-in capital in the world”.
At his first Eurogroup meeting as a full member, Latvian Finance Minister Andris Vilks briefed his colleagues on the smooth changeover to the euro at the start of the year. The head of the Eurogroup, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, welcomed the country's good economic prospects, with growth expected to exceed 4% of GDP in 2014 and 2015 and the public deficit expected to remain somewhere between 1% and 1.5% this year and next. (MB/transl.fl)