BRUSSELES, June 20. /ITAR-TASS reporter Denis Dubrovin /. In all 17 states of the Eurozone there is mutual consent on the admission of Latvia in the Community from 1 January 2014, as reported a source to ITAR-TASS.
“The official decision (on accepting Latvia) should be taken today since none of the countries in tha community has got any objections to the acceptance of Latvia that has fulfilled all the criteria for accession,” said the source.
In practice, the economic performance of Latvia looks better than that of the most countries in the Eurozone. The European Commission and the ECB have recommended the adoption of Latvia on June 5 noting the fulfillment of the Maastricht criteria - the macroeconomic requirements for the introduction of the single European currency.
Inflation in Latvia in 2012 was 1.3 percent of the required 2.7 percent, the budget deficit - 1.2 percent of GDP at the required 3 percent, the national debt - 40.7 percent of GDP at a rate of 60 percent. The rate of the national currency to euro remains structurally stable; as of long-term rates on loans, they account for 3.8 percent in Latvia, while the minimum acceptable level is 5.5 percent.
The European institutions are also actively supporting the introduction of Latvia, considering the move to low-intensity phase of the euro crisis as a political signal that the European single currency remains attractive to new states.
The accession will be discussed on Thursday afternoon at a scheduled meeting of the Eurogroup - the Council of Finance Ministers of the Eurozone in Luxembourg. Since 2014 Latvia can become the 18th Eurozone country.