Foto: Tomass Urbelionis, F64/BFL
Opinion polls on the currency provide some conflicting information. While some 80% would like to see the fixed exchange rate continue, only 30-something per cent are in favour of introducing the euro by 1 January 2014, although euro introduction is the ultimate fixed exchange rate for the lat vis-à-vis the euro.
But if people think that Latvia can "just" enter the Eurozone at some other time of its own choice they are quite wrong - there may be just a small window of opportunity that may not open again for several years to come. This has of course also been part of the debate here but I thought I would try to explore it in more detail in this entry.
Since September 2012 Latvia has met the Maastricht inflation criterion (see e.g. here or also Figure 2 of this entry) and it will continue to do so during the spring and thus through the assessment period but it is far from certain that it will continue to do so - rather, it is more realistic that Latvia will NOT fulfil the criterion and this for the following reasons:
