A Representative from Latvia May Be Allowed to Lead the Entire Eurozone

The President of the Bank of Latvia, Martins Kazaks, is considered one of two candidates for the position of Vice-President of the European Central Bank (ECB), according to a statement by the Chair of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, Aurora Lalukas, regarding the informal exchange of views with candidates for the ECB Vice-President position that took place today.

Today, members of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs held an informal exchange of views with six candidates for the position of the next Vice-President of the ECB.

The committee coordinators, representing the majority of its members, supported Kazaks and Mario Centeno as preferred candidates for this position.

As reported, in December, the government of Latvia approved Kazaks' candidacy for the position of Vice-Chairman of the ECB.

According to the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, the ECB's Governing Board consists of a President, a Vice-President, and four other members. They are appointed by the European Council by a qualified majority on the recommendation of the Council of the EU, which it issues after consultations with the European Parliament and the ECB Council, from among the proposed candidates who have an impeccable reputation and professional experience in monetary policy or banking.

The term of office for members of the ECB's Governing Board is eight years and is not renewable. Only citizens of EU member states can be members of the ECB's Governing Board. By the end of 2027, considering the terms of the current board members, it will be necessary to reappoint four members of the board, including the President and the Vice-President.

It was previously reported that Kazaks was re-elected for a second term as President of the Bank of Latvia in February this year only on his second attempt. In the first round, due to political intrigues, Kazaks was sidelined.

Kazaks holds a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Latvia, a diploma in economics from the University of Cambridge, as well as a master's degree and a doctorate in economics from the University of London.

Kazaks worked as a leading economist in the Department of Macroeconomic Analysis and Forecasting at the Ministry of Finance and was also a research assistant at the Riga office of the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX).

He also worked as a research assistant in the Department of Social Sciences at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies at University College London.

Since 2005, Kazaks has been the Chief Economist at Swedbank in Latvia and the Chief Macroeconomic Analyst in the Baltic countries, and from 2010 to August 2018, he served as the Deputy Chief Economist of the Swedbank Group, Chief Economist of Swedbank Latvija, and Head of the Macroeconomic Research Department for the Baltic countries of the Swedbank Group.

Since August 2018, Kazaks has been a member of the Council of the Bank of Latvia, and in December 2019, the Saeima elected him President of the Bank of Latvia with 76 votes for the first time.