Brussels, 13/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - Latvia joined the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), the eurozone's bailout fund, on Thursday 13 March.
This is the first time a new country has joined the ESM since it was set up in October 2012. Latvia's membership became possible because, on 21 February, Latvia lodged a special law ratifying the treaty establishing the ESM.
Latvia's membership terms include calculation of Latvia's capital contribution to the ESM. Taking into account a temporary correction for new ESM members whose GDP per capita is less than 75% of the EU average, Latvia's ESM capital contribution key was set at 0.2757%. This implies a capital subscription of €1.93 billion, including €221.2 million in paid-in capital. The payment of paid-in capital will be made in five annual instalments of €44.24 million each. (MB)