The Latvian government mostly agrees with the conclusions and recommendations of the OECD

The conclusions and recommendations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for the promotion of Latvian economic growth fully coincide with the government’s policy, Minister of Economy Viktors Valainis (ZZS) admitted on Thursday in the presentation of the latest OECD economic report on Latvia.

The minister pointed out that the conclusions of the OECD report on the main obstacles and opportunities for Latvia’s competitiveness and growth fully coincide with the vision and policy of the Ministry of Economy and the government.

Valainis emphasized that insufficient availability of finance for investments, imperfect competition in the banking sector, administrative burden, especially in construction, lack of qualified labor force – these are all directions in which the government has energetically started work.

“I am sure that this work will be crowned with success and in the next few years Latvia will emerge as a growth leader in the Baltic region, ahead of our neighbors,” said Valainis.

Due to the consequences of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, a slowdown in economic growth has been observed in Latvia in recent years, similar to other countries, so OECD recommends Latvia to speed up reforms, strengthen the quality of public finances and public services, as well as promote investments to ensure sustainable economic growth and improve the standard of living of the population.

At the same time, OECD experts have recognized that the digitization of public services in Latvia has significantly improved, as a result of which the administrative burden has significantly decreased. Ample fiscal space has provided strong support to households and businesses during the pandemic and energy crisis. On the other hand, the decrease in inflation due to lower energy and food prices and the increase in nominal wages will contribute to the increase in real income and private consumption in 2024 and 2025.

These are the main conclusions of the latest OECD economic report on Latvia, which was presented on Thursday, April 25, to representatives of ministries, social partners, academia, non-governmental organizations, foreign embassies, as well as other institutions, Latvia’s leading economists and entrepreneurs.

The OECD Economic Review is an independent, fact-based analysis of the development of Latvia’s economy and the progress of reform implementation, while the recommendations provided by OECD experts serve as a high-quality and good “handbook” for policy makers to ensure more sustainable growth of Latvia’s economy.