On 6 September, President of Latvia Egils Levits met with Mārtiņš Kazāks, Governor of the central bank, in the Riga Castle to discuss macroeconomic situation and necessary steps and investments in Latvia’s sustainability.
Estimates of the Bank of Latvia show that national economy will continue to experience rapid growth, reaching the annual rate above 3.3% forecasted in June. More recent central bank economic outlook will be available in late September. Both officials talked about inflation risks and concluded that demand is currently outweighing the supply and additional incentives on the supply side are needed, including building of export capacities.
One of the key preconditions for national development is investments into sustainability, recognised both officials. This includes continued investments into life-long learning and workers’ skills, as well as digital services. Long-term investments require complete implementation of regional reform, stressed Egils Levits and Mārtiņš Kazāks. Regional growth depends on how well larger cities grow, stressed both officials.
President Levits and Governor Kazāks compared notes on development of Latvian capital, Riga, and mentioned the need to continue investments into infrastructure, education and healthcare.
Governor of Bank of Latvia presented the memorandum on universal accessibility of cash throughout Latvia, signed on 3 September 2021. Memorandum was signed between the Bank of Latvia, ‘Finance Latvia’ and banks operating largest ATM and branch office networks across Latvia. The aim of the memorandum is to ensure that all residents of Latvia have access to ATMs for withdrawal of minimum amounts of money defined therein.
Meeting also focused on the international conference ‘Sustainable Economy in Times of Change’ on 20 September. Conference hosted by the central bank will focus on long-term-growth-driven investments into the economy.