Latvia: producer prices up in April 2017

Compared to March, the level of producer prices in Latvian industry grew by 0.1% in April. The prices of products sold on the domestic market increased by 0.5%, whereas the prices of exported products dropped by 0.2%. The prices of products exported to euro area countries decreased by 0.2% and of products exported to non-euro…

Latvia: unemployment rate at 9.4% in Q1 2017

In Q1 the Latvian unemployment rate constituted 9.4%. Compared to the previous quarter, the unemployment rate increased by 0.1%, whereas, compared to the same period of the year before, the rate reduced by 0.9%. In Q1 91.3 thousand people aged 15-74 were unemployed, which is 10.3 thousand fewer than a year ago and 0.5 thousand…

Latvia: micro-enterprise tax creates serious defects

The micro-enterprise tax has created serious defects for Latvia’s tax system, said Fiscal Discipline Council chairman Janis Platais. “It has caused very serious defects to our tax system. It suffocates growth. It acts against the tax neutrality principle, when taxes should not stimulate one or the other form of business,” Platais said. He believes Latvia…

Latvia: FVS uncovers illegal sheep meat product trade

Inspecting an advertisement published on Facebook, Latvian Food and Veterinary Service uncovered illegal trade of sheep meat, canned meat storage and meat product distribution organized in an office building on Selpils Street, Riga. Upon performing a control purchase, inspectors found that tins with meat were either not labeled or improperly labeled, making it impossible to…