One of the tasks of Latvijas Banka is to advise the Saeima and the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Latvia on monetary policy and aspects of economic policy associated with Latvia’s participation in the euro area, as well as other issues related to the performance of the tasks of Latvijas Banka.
In 2022, officials of Latvijas Banka and its employees held regular meetings with the representatives of the Saeima and the government of the Republic of Latvia, inter alia, participated in meetings of the committees of the Saeima and the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Latvia and in the work of several committees and working groups established by the government, providing an opinion on financial and economic development. In 2021, when analysing Latvia’s economic growth prospects, Latvijas Banka advised the Saeima and the government on the development and problems of Latvia’s economy, helped the government to evaluate the optimal energy crisis support measures and made proposals for their implementation, as well as advised on the issues related to taxes, social security and the education policy, 2nd pillar pension schemes issues and the pension basis model. Latvijas Banka also continued to analyse the role of Latvia’s financial sector in the economy by starting an in-depth discussion with financial sector participants on lending trends, their underlying factors and the future development in Latvia.
Employees of Latvijas Banka made their contribution and worked in various working groups and professional organisations, sharing their experience and providing them with advice and support, including in the areas of economic forecasts, the government expenditure and the programming and uptake of EU funds, the financial sector and development of financial services (including payment services), as well as in other areas and in the process of drafting legal acts and their amendments regulating them.
Announcement of Latvijas Banka’s forecasts and the discussion of economists
Employees of Latvijas Banka in their capacity as experts continued to participate in the Working Group for the Preparation of the Notification of the General Government Budget Deficit and Debt chaired by the Central Statistical Bureau, by compiling the notification data of the general government budget deficit and debt for 2021, the operational data related to the Recovery and Resilience Facility and the impact of Covid-19 on the government budget deficit and debt operating data and the related methodological issues. In 2022, experts of Latvijas Banka together with colleagues from the Central Statistical Bureau, the Treasury and the Ministry of Finance, participated in a dialogue visit of the European Union Statistical Office (Eurostat), in the preparation of Latvia’s consultation request on the accounting of the mandatory purchase component of electricity and the one-off payment, as well as in the sessions of solving methodological issues organised by Eurostat and surveys on the accounting of macro-financial assistance loans to Ukraine, also on the accounting of state aid related to high energy prices and on the new and revised sections of the edition of Manual on Government Budget Deficit and Debt (MGDD 10th edition).
Experts of Latvijas Banka provided support for the government enabling Latvia to take an active part in the EU and the OECD, as well as ensured the exchange of information with the international rating agencies.
