Economic aid - recipient: $96.2 million (1995)
Currency: Latvian lat (LVL)
Currency code: LVL
Exchange rates: lati per US dollar - 0.614 (January 2001), 0.607 (2000), 0.585 (1999), 0.590 (1998), 0.581 (1997), 0.551 (1996)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Latvia Communications
Telephones - main lines in use: 748,000 (1997)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 77,100 (1997)
Telephone system: general assessment: 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