OREANDA-NEWS. On February 15, 2008 the European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso at a meeting with Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis (Latvia's First Party/Latvia's Way) said that Latvia should try to bring inflation down and become aware of the worrying economic situation in the country in order to meet the criteria for joining the euro area.

Barroso stressed that Latvia's economic development has been impressive, however, now Latvia must be careful and prevent the economy from overheating.

The Commission has put forward several proposals for Latvia, also proposals for preventing the Latvian economy from overheating. Barroso said he hoped that these proposals would soon be approved in Latvia.

Barroso said he is confident that Latvia's officials are aware of the economic problems in the country and are already taking steps to bring inflation down.

Barroso also said he believes that Latvia will manage to avoid the "hard landing" scenario, and said that Latvia's accession to the euro area will bring about new changes that will be in Latvian residents' interest.

Barroso also had a luncheon with President Valdis Zatlers and the Bank of Latvia heads to talk about the economic situation in Latvia.