Latvia joins eurozone at midnight despite little public enthusiasm
Source: Guardian
The eurozone will gain an extra member at midnight on Tuesday as Latvia becomes the 18th country to join the single currency union, despite little obvious public enthusiasm for the move.
Latvia's arrival gives eurocrats in Brussels an extra reason to toast in the new year. Eighteen months after the threat of Greece quitting the euro gripped financial markets, the eurozone is marking its 15th anniversary by expanding, not fracturing.
With final preparations completed, outgoing prime minister Valdis Dombrovskis will ceremonially withdraw the first euro note from an ATM shortly after midnight.
European commission president José Manuel Barroso offered his congratulations to Latvia on Tuesday as households and businesses prepared to wave goodbye to their currency, the lats.
Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/dec/31/latvia-joins-euro-single-currency
Latvia joins Eurozone with New Year's fanfare but little joy
Latvia became the 18th country to make the European Union's euro its currency when fireworks exploded over Riga and church bells tolled in the new year.
Latvia has posted the 28-nation EU's most impressive economic growth rates for the last two years, after self-imposed austerity measures of a severity that helped the tiny Baltic state recover from recession faster than most of the bloc's more established members.
European leaders praised Latvia's vibrant economic performance, hailing its entrance into the Eurozone as evidence of the common currency's enduring appeal despite a rash of bailouts and banking crises in recent years.
"This is a major event, not only for Latvia, but for the euro area itself, which remains stable, attractive and open to new members," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in welcoming the new euro-holders.
http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-latvia-eurozone-20131231,0,5241844.story#ixzz2p8jIaY5j
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