Sad day that latvia is joining the euro. Their own currency was 7th strongest. Rip latvia.
5 hours ago
Shops like these in Latvia's capital, Riga, will trade in euros from 2014
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.
Analysis
By Andrew Walker
BBC World Service Economics correspondent
Latvia has already experienced the downside of being in a currency union.
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 what's 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.
m.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22781146 
