All international institutions forecast Latvia to have the biggest GDP growth rate amongst all EU candidate countries this year. The European Commission is currently the most optimistic of international organisations forecasting Latvia's GDP growth for 2001 to reach 7.9%.

The International Monetary Fund was not far behind on setting 7% GDP growth for Latvia, while the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development set the figure at a cautious 6.5%. The European Commission forecast is even better than some local forecasts with the Bank of Latvia setting 7.3 - 7.5% GDP growth this year. The Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia forecasts a GDP growth of up to 8%.

The European Commission also set a rather high level for the other Baltic States at 5.3% GDP growth rate for Estonia in 2001 and 4.5% for Lithuania. The EBRD forecasts 4.5% and 4% for Estonia and Lithuania respectively.

BNS