(MENAFN) Latvia has officially applied to enter the euro zone in 2014, showing confidence in the troubled 17-member Euro bloc, Reuters reported.
Latvian government says it meets all the economic criteria needed to be accepted into the euro zone.
Latvia pegged its currency to the euro after joining the European Union in 2004, and kept with the links through two years of turmoil after 2008's global economic and financial crisis.
The Eastern Europe country has recovered strongly, helped by an EU and IMF bailout programme four years ago, and have been on track to seal membership of the 17-member club after neighboring Estonia joined successfully in 2011.
Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis said after the signing the application, along with Finance Minister Andris Vilks and central bank chief Ilmars Rimsevics, that the euro would benefit Latvia in terms of increased investment, lower currency exchange costs and would help ease social ills.
Many Latvians' mortgage loans are in euros meaning a switch would decrease currency risk and most see the currency as a lesser long-term risk than the lat.
However, polls show many Latvians concerned that a currency switch will drive prices higher and take control of the economy out of Latvian hands.
He expects public opinion will swing behind euro accession as the entry date gets closer and has no plans for a referendum.
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