La Lettonia entrerà in Eurozona il 1° gennaio 2014

Ue: ok Bruxelles a Lettonia nell'euro
Entrerà il 1 gennaio 2014. Rehn, segno che la zona non si sta disintegrando

=> ANSA.it —>EUROPA 2014 —>NEWS, 05.06.13

05 giugno, 17:20



BRUXELLES - La Lettonia è pronta ad entrare nell'euro dal 1 gennaio 2014: lo ha stabilito la Commissione Ue il cui parere deve ora essere approvato dai leader europei. Per il commissario Olli Rehn è la dimostrazione che "chi aveva predetto la disintegrazione della zona euro si sbagliava".
Per la Commissione la Lettonia ha raggiunto un "elevato livello di convergenza con la zona euro", perciò propone al Consiglio di farla accedere dal 1 gennaio 2014. I 'criteri di convergenza' sono tutti rispettati: tasso di cambio stabile, l'inflazione negli ultimi dodici mesi é stata in media di 1,3% (il limite scritto nel Trattati è 2,7%). Il deficit, dall'8,1% del 2010, è sceso all'1,2% nel 2012 ed è atteso invariato nel 2013. E la correzione è per Bruxelles "sostenibile e credibile", perciò ha già raccomandato all'Ecofin la chiusura della procedura per deficit eccessivo. Il debito è al 40,7%, quindi ben sotto il tetto del 60%. "L'esperienza della Lettonia dimostra che un Paese può con successo superare i suoi squilibri, sebbene severi, e riemergere più forte", scrive la Commissione nel suo rapporto. La Lettonia infatti, in seguito alla profonda recessione del 2008-2009 che ha polverizzato un quinto del suo pil, "ha agito con decisione" sostenuta dal programma di assistenza finanziaria di Ue-Fmi, che ha migliorato la flessibilità e la capacità di consolidamento dell'economia. "E questo ha ripagato: secondo le previsioni la Lettonia sarà l'economia che crescerà più rapidamente quest'anno", scrive Bruxelles.
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=> EU commission says Yes to Latvia euro entry, 05.06.13


Latvian currency in collection box: goodbye lat, hello euro (Photo: shnnn)
BY BENJAMIN FOX

BRUSSELS - Latvia is set to become the 18th member of the eurozone after the European Commission gave its application the green light on Wednesday (5 June).

"Latvia douze points is my message to Riga," Olli Rehn, the bloc's economic and monetary affairs commissioner, said while delivering his report, by reference to the scoring system in Europe's annual pop music competition, Eurovision.

He welcomed what he described as "a high degree of sustained economic convergence with the euro area."

In a nod to the eurozone's critics, Rehn described Latvia's membership bid as "a sign of confidence in our common currency and further evidence that those who predicted the disintegration of the euro area were wrong."

EU finance ministers will give their verdict in July.

They are expected to rubber-stamp Latvia's bid, paving the way for it to join the single currency at the start of 2014.

The commission report found that Latvia had met eurozone requirements on a range of criteria including price stability, exchange and interest rates.

The country has one of the lowest levels of government budget deficit and debt in the EU at 1.2 percent of GDP and 40.7 percent of GDP, respectively.

But for its part, the European Central Bank (ECB), which also released a convergence report on Wednesday, offered more qualified support.

In a clear allusion to the Cypriot banking crisis, the ECB warned that "the reliance by a significant part of the banking sector on non-resident deposits as a source of funding, while not a recent phenomenon, is again on the rise and represents an important risk to financial stability."

Latvia's banks hold deposits worth around €8.4 billion from foreign savers, just shy of half its total deposits, most of which is believed to come from business people in Russia and Ukraine.

Its Baltic neighbours, Estonia and Lithuania, hold €2.5 billion and €560 million of non-resident deposits, respectively.

Rehn played down any comparison between Cyprus and Latvia.

He pointed out that the size of Latvia's banking sector relative to GDP was under 150 percent compared to an average of over 350 percent across the eurozone.

"Latvia has a long tradition in servicing non-resident banking clients," he said, adding that "neither their share of banking assets or non-residents is particularly high."

Latvia's private banks are also required by national law to keep higher capital requirements and a 60 percent liquidity requirement for non-resident funds, compared with a 30 percent liquidity ratio for local depositors.

In contrast, the assets and liabilities of Cypriot banks were worth over 800 percent of GDP prior to the Mediterranean Island's €10 billion bailout package.

Toms Veidemanis, President of the Latvian Private Bank Association welcomed the commission report, describing it as providing "recognition of our efforts to create a safe and sustainable non-resident banking business."

While the Latvian government has put significant political capital into joining the eurozone, public opinion remains hostile to joining the currency union.

Political parties sceptical about joining the single currency performed well in local elections held last weekend.

Meanwhile, a TNS opinion poll in May found that 62 percent of Latvians oppose switching to the euro, while only 36 percent want to go ahead.

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