“Every third resident of Latvia has a financial reserve that lasts only one month,” admitted Janis Enzis, president of the Latvian Restaurant Association and associate professor at LBTU, on the program “Press Club” on TV24.
“I am concerned that 30 percent of Latvians have only a one-month financial safety net,” says Enzis, emphasizing that this is an “awfully small” amount.
He explains that this means that every third person is not prepared for crisis situations, such as job loss or serious health issues.
Enzis notes that only a very small part of society can afford to keep savings in the bank. For most of the population, inflation, the pandemic, and Russia's aggression in Ukraine have significantly worsened the quality of life.
He is also worried that people are postponing large purchases and prefer to save even on household appliances. “People aren’t even planning to buy a refrigerator because they’ve decided to save up,” he admits.
Enzis emphasizes that such behavior is detrimental to the economy. If the population shifts en masse to a savings mode, it could mean that the government will have to take on even more loans in the future.
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