Republic of Latvia: 2019 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; and Staff Report

International Monetary Fund

No 2019/264, IMF Staff Country Reports from International Monetary Fund

Abstract: This 2019 Article IV Consultation with Republic of Latvia highlights that the economy continued to expand rapidly in 2018, as growth surprised with a strong construction-driven upswing. Fiscal and current account deficits are at manageable levels, as is the public debt. The financial system remains stable, despite a significant balance sheet restructuring of banks servicing foreign clients. The growth outlook is favourable; however, risks weigh on the downside due to a less supportive external environment. The financial system remains stable despite a significant balance sheet restructuring of banks servicing foreign clients. Banks remains well capitalized and liquid, with capital levels about 40 percent higher than the euro area average and average liquidity coverage four times the regulatory minimum. Higher productivity and investment growth are needed to offset the impact of Latvia’s exceptionally unfavorable demographic trends and achieve robust long-term growth and rapid income convergence.

Keywords: ISCR; CR; debt; lat; firm; World Bank-International Monetary Fund mission; Latvia; SDR; IMF staff estimate; fiscal policy; support productivity-boosting reform; labor market; SME lending; lending constraint; core inflation; Anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT); Credit; Productivity; Global (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 73
Date: 2019-08-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cis and nep-mac
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.aspx?sk=48565 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:imf:imfscr:2019/264

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/pubs/ord_info.htm

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in IMF Staff Country Reports from International Monetary Fund International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC USA. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Akshay Modi ().