Latvia joins eurozone on New Year's Day
拉脱维亚新年当天加入欧元区

The euro celebrates its 15th birthday on New Year's Day, with a new recruit, Latvia, now using the currency. Latvia’s acting prime minister Valdis Dombrovskis called it an important step for his country.

Valdis Dombrovskis, Prime Minister of Latvia, said, "It’s a historic year for Latvia, we’ve made a nice, importance step in our development becoming the 18th member of Euro zone."

Latvia becomes the second former Soviet Union member state to adopt the European currency. The Baltic country won praise from the European Union for emerging from a deep recession with strong economic growth and relatively low debt levels. To get there it had to slash spending and wages, and hike taxes to keep the Lat, its former currency, pegged to the euro during the global financial crisis.

Analysts believe by joining the eurozone, Latvia will benefit from the EU’s economic growth, and have greater access to external markets such as China and the US, which are negotiating investment or free trade deals with the EU.