Debt - external: $212 million (1998)
Economic aid - recipient: $96.2 million (1995)
Currency: 1 Latvian lat (LVL) = 100 santims
Exchange rates: lats (LVL) per US$1 - 0.583 (January 2000),0.585 (1999), 0.590 (1998), 0.581 (1997), 0.551 (1996), 0.528 (1995)
Fiscal year: calendar year
@Latvia:Communications
Telephones - main lines in use: 748,000 (1997)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 175,348 (1999)
Telephone system: inadequate but is being modernized to provide an international capability independent of the Moscow international switch; more facilities are being installed for individual use domestic: expansion underway in intercity trunk line connections, rural exchanges, and mobile systems; still many unsatisfied subscriber applications international: international connections are now available via cable and a satellite earth station at Riga, enabling direct connections for most calls (1998)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 8, FM 56, shortwave 1 (1998)