President Levits wished Governor Kazāks success in this responsible job and underlined, ‘I highly valued your work as a well-known industry expert, and I am certain that the governance of the central bank is now in good and competent hands.’
Egils Levits and Mārtiņš Kazāks agreed to build a close dialogue and spoke about the need for long-term national vision and evidence-based practices and solutions for national growth. They also discussed the current economic and financial context.
President and Governor talked about the national, European and global economic and financial situation and highlighted the fields where additional investment would make a decisive difference for long-term national productivity, namely further education and learning of new skills, combating of grey economy and other areas.
President of Latvia and Governor of the Bank of Latvia discussed the relationship between the central bank and the Financial and Capital Market Commission (FCMC). Egils Levits and Mārtiņš Kazāks also talked about the so-called anti-money laundering (AML) procedures established by the Latvian financial sector. A considerable progress was noted. Some of these experiences might also help other European countries. Governor Kazāks suggested that common European financial sector AML guidelines should be adopted. He also emphasised the role of the central bank in analysing macroeconomic trends and producing recommendations to the whole financial sector.
Governor of the Bank of Latvia also said that in future central bank plans to employ diaspora experts and Latvians currently studying abroad.
