Cap In Hand

According to the IMF Mission Chief to Latvia, Mark Griffiths, the next tranche of the joint EU-IMF EUR7.5bn bailout package could be released towards the end of July. This would reflect a favourable assessment by international lenders over the progress made by the coalition government on overhauling the fiscal house, and would help alleviate refinancing pressures. Going forward, we continue to stress that finding ever more budget cuts and opportunities to raise taxes in the coming years will prove ever more difficult, which alongside the October general election (see main article), will remain a risk to the bailout program.

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