Latvia may fail to fulfill its international loan obligations
RIGA. May 5. KAZINFORM Latvia, which has been heavily hit by the global recession, will not be able to begin repaying its debt to the International Monetary Fund in 2012, a member of the Latvian parliament's budget and finance commission told local PRO100 TV channel, Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.
"Current estimates show that we will be unable to begin returning loan money [in 2012] if there is no large improvement in the economic situation," Miroslav Mitrofanov said.
Latvia has been struggling with its major economic problems, with the government considerably slashing the budgets of all state institutions and asking international financial organizations for assistance.
The IMF has provided the crisis-stricken Baltic state, where the level of unemployment has reached 19%, with a 7.5-billion-euro ($9.75-billion) loan. The loan terms stipulate that the country has to begin repaying the debt in 2012, Kazinform cites RIA Novosti. See www.en.rian.ru