2008 Latvian financial crisis
Open-knowledge reference entry
The 2008 Latvian financial crisis, which stemmed from the 2008 global financial crisis, was a major economic and political crisis in Latvia. The crisis was generated when an easy credit market burst, resulting in an unemployment crisis, along with the bankruptcy of many companies. Since 2010, economic activity has recovered and Latvia's economic growth rate was the fastest among the EU member states in the first three quarters of 2012.
Development
In 2008, following years of booming economic success, the Latvian economy took one of the sharpest downturns in the world, picking up pace in the last quarter in which GDP contracted by 10.5%. In February 2009 the Latvian government asked the International Monetary Fund and the European Union for an emergency bailout loan of 7.5 billion Euros, while at the same time the government nationalized Parex Bank, the country's second largest bank.
On concerns of bankruptcy, Standard & Poors subsequently downgraded Latvia's credit rating to non-investment grade BB+, or "junk", its worst ever rating. Its rating was put on negative outlook, which indicates a possible further cut. On February 20 the Latvian coalition government headed by Prime Minister of Latvia Ivars Godmanis collapsed.
The Baltic states were amongst the worst hit by the Great Recession. In December 2008, the Latvian unemployment rate stood at 7%.
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