Latvia manages to sell debt

Agence France-Presse

Thursday's planned offer made by the Baltic nation included the debt it failed to sell on Wednesday when it offered 50 million lats to investors.

"I think it's a symbolic sign that there was only one bid," Danske Bank analyst Lars Christensen told Agence France-Presse. "It does not make a material difference to what happened yesterday."

Wednesday's failed auction underscored Latvia's problems in raising money from the markets.

The government of the Baltic nation of 2.3 million people has been slashing budget to meet the requirements of the country's 7.5-billion-euro deal with the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and other lenders. The economy is expected to contract by about 18 percent this year, the worst forecast within the entire 27-member European Union.