Economic recovery: elabaration of measures to be taken for the revival of the national economy of the republic of Latvia

Abstract

Economic and financial crisis that has hit the Republic of Latvia is of unprecedented strength. Moreover, socio-economic systems are changing worldwide so that measures for reviving of national economy that were working previously, might not work anymore. Hence, wise and timely action needs to be taken to improve the development prospects of Latvia and contain the damage to the national economy, which will be caused if decisive action to strengthen the economic revival of Latvia is not taken. This needs to be done bearing in mind the changing global environment and understanding trends that will affect it in the foreseeable future. Authors offer a new approach of structuring the tasks for economic recovery: efficiency of use of state budget resources, increasing of state budget revenues, and improving the political system. Authors also take a look at similar crises that have taken place in the world previously and point out to similarities and differences, as well as derive suggestions for policymakers.

Aim: the aim of the research is to elaborate measures to be taken for economic revival of the national economy of Latvia as well as provide the policy makers of Latvia with and inform the society of the said measures to be taken to bring back the development of Latvia on a sustainable footing. Materials and methods: literature analysis, focus group method, expert method. Main results and conclusions: the research finds that there are many possibilities to increase efficiency of state budget as well as increasing revenues in state budget. The main tasks lie with reforming of the public administration and streamlining its functions as well as with improving of the existing political system. Current crisis in Latvia is only partly similar to past crises in the region, but some lessons from the past crises can be derived.