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.docVIP

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 whats 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 significant 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 Latvias desire to adopt the euro was a sign of confidence in the single currency. ? Those who predicted a disintegration of the euro...were simply wrong, Rehn told a news conference. ? The BBC Brussels correspondent, Matthew Price, said that unlike some established members of the zone, Latvia was well within the economic limits set by Brussels for joining. ? In much of Eastern Europe theres