高考英语 考前突破阅读理解能力 国际时事要闻 2014年拉脱维亚将加入欧元区

2014 年拉脱维亚将加入欧元区欧盟委员会确认，东欧波罗的海沿岸国家拉脱维亚已经满足了加入欧元区所需达到的各项条件，已被批准自 2014 年 1 月 1 日起成为欧元区第 18 个成员国。 Latvia will become the 18th country to use the euro after being approved for membership by the European Commission. In a report, the Commission confirmed that the Baltic state had met the criteria for joining the single currency. Latvia is keen to strengthen ties with western Europe and reduce its dependency on Russia. Officials said the eurozone had defied those who predicted it would collapse under the sovereign debt crisis. It has had a financial crisis of its own at a time when it had a policy of fixing its exchange rate against the Euro. It chose to stick with that policy. Latvia did not seek to regain lost competitiveness by devaluing the currency, which many countries have done in past financial crises. Instead, it followed the path of troubled countries such as Greece and Ireland already using the Euro and went for what's called "internal devaluation", restoring competitiveness through austerity. Although not a Eurozone member, Latvia in effect accepted the constraints that membership would have imposed. It has been very painful. Economic activity is recovering but it is even now 12% below its pre-crisis peak. Unemployment is also moving in the right direction but it remains high at 12.4%, despite signif icant emigration. The country will start using the currency at the beginning of 2014 after meeting the criteria for membership, including low inflation and long-term interest rates, as well as low public debt. EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said Latvia's desire to adopt the euro was a sign of confidence in...