Banks, Economics, Financial Services, Latvia, Loan

She said that although Latvia's economic growth indicators are "not that bad" as one might expect due to the Russian crisis and sanctions, and the growth could reach 2% this year and 3% in 2016, the growth is nevertheless hindered by passive lending policies by banks, which can be described as "very, very bad."

The minister intends to discuss the matter with the ruling coalition, inviting banking watchdogs and the largest banks to explain why lending is not being renewed in Latvia. Reizniece-Ozola stressed that at the time when Saeima was discussing the non-recourse mortgages initiative, banks pressured the parliament to turn down these amendments, at the same time promising to restore lending. Now it is evident that the politicians kept their promise, while the banks did not.

Reizniece-Ozola has no clear plan of action in case the banks do not cooperate and refuse to change their crediting policies.

Commenting economic trends, the minister admitted that export growth has declined. This is mainly due to sanctions, but businesses are looking for new markets.