Riga  - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will open a permanent office in the Baltic state of Latvia "very shortly" officials confirmed Thursday in the capital, Riga.

The news came after the IMF's Mark Griffiths and Elena Flores met with Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis, other members of his administration and officials from the Latvian central bank.

In response to a question from the German Press Agency dpa, Griffiths told reporters "We will be opening an office very shortly."

Riga  - Latvian airline airBaltic confirmed Thursday it was "seriously considering" starting its own taxi company in response to passenger complaints about being ripped off by taxi firms as soon as they arrive in the Baltic state.

"Our primary goal is to have taxi services as transparent as possible in Riga," company spokesman Janis Vanags told the German Press Agency dpa

Riga - Eastern European foreign ministers, meeting in the Latvian capital of Riga, congratulated Albania and Croatia Tuesday "on their imminent accession" to NATO.

The two countries are due to be granted membership at the NATO summit in the French city of Strasbourg and Kehl and Baden-Baden in Germany starting on April 3.

The foreign ministers also voiced approval of recent elections in Macedonia.

Riga  - Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis said Monday his government did not intend to approach international lenders for an additional 1 billion euros (1.35 billion dollars) on top of an existing 7.5-billion assistance package, as reported by some media.

"Is Latvia's government requesting an additional billion? The answer is no," he said during a press briefing.

However, Dombrovskis stopped short of ruling out such action in future.

Riga  - Troubled Latvian bank Parex got a boost on Thursday when it confirmed it had agreed terms with creditors to pay back around 775 million euros (1 billion dollars) in syndicated loans.

Failure to reach a compromise deal would have seen a group of 60 lenders, including Germany's Commerzbank, demanding immediate payment, effectively forcing Parex out of business.

Riga - A senior official of the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) confirmed Wednesday that the bank was interested in taking a stake in Latvia's troubled Parex Bank.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Latvian Prime Miinster Valdis Dombrovskis, the EBRD's Varel Freeman said the bank would confirm the exact nature of its investment in coming weeks.