5 Euro – Latvia

In 2021, Latvia was a stable member of the Eurozone, having adopted the euro as its official currency on January 1, 2014. Consequently, the country's monetary policy was fully integrated with and determined by the European Central Bank (ECB). The primary focus for Latvia, as for all Eurozone members, was navigating the broader European economic landscape, which in 2021 was characterized by the ongoing recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Inflationary pressures, largely driven by rising global energy prices and supply chain disruptions, began to emerge as a key economic concern towards the latter half of the year, though the ECB maintained its historically low interest rates to support the recovery.

Domestically, there was no national debate about currency sovereignty or a return to the former lats, as the euro enjoyed strong public support and was seen as a cornerstone of Latvia's economic security and deep integration with the European Union. The financial system was stable, and discussions centered on fiscal policy rather than monetary tools. The Latvian government, led by Prime Minister Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš, focused its economic response on managing the pandemic's impact through EU-funded recovery measures, while the Bank of Latvia (Latvijas Banka) contributed to Eurosystem decisions and supervised the national banking sector.

Therefore, the "currency situation" in Latvia for 2021 was one of predictable stability within the Eurozone framework. The salient financial discussions were not about the currency itself but about aligning national budgetary policies with EU recovery funds and addressing domestic issues like energy costs and inequality, all within the context of a shared European monetary space facing the early stirrings of inflationary trends that would intensify in 2022.