Latvia is one of eight Eastern and Central nations whose ratings of foreign currency government bonds have been upgraded by the New York-based Moody’s Investor Service.

All eight nations—also including Estonia and Lithuania—are candidates to join the European Union. Also upgraded were foreign-currency country ceilings, Moody’s said in a press release.

Latvia’s bond rating was upgraded to A2 (relatively good financial security) from Baa2 (relatively adequate financial security). The best rating possible is Aaa, or exceptional financial security.

“The upgrades reflect Moody’s view that the process of economic and financial integration of these countries with the EU is virtually irreversible,” the investor service said.

The rating is a measure of what Moody’s sees as a country’s ability and willingness to make payments on bonds. In other words, the risk of investing in the nation has declined.

A shopping street in Latvia’s capital city has the cheapest retail space among the world’s most expensive, according to a study by an international commercial real estate company.

In its annual report Main Streets Across the World 2002, the New York-based Cushman & Wakefield found that Krasta Street in Rīga is 44th among the 44 priciest places to rent retail space. Rents there average USD 39 per square foot, or USD 419 per square meter.

Topping the list are East 57th Street and 5th Avenue in New York, where retail space rents for an average of USD 700 per square foot.

The rental rates were current as of June.

Krasta Street is home to a number of retail developments, including the 30,000 square meter shopping center Mols. In all, according to the development company Linstow Warner, Latvia has about 1.2 million square meters of retail space, half of that in Rīga.

Also on the list at 38th most expensive is Gediminas Avenue in Vilnius, Lithuania, where the rent averages USD 61 per square foot, the same as Linking Road in Mumbai, India. Viru Street in Tallinn, Estonia, ranks 43rd with average rent of USD 41 per square foot.

A new government coalition, headed by new Prime Minister Einars Repše, has been approved by the Latvian parliament, according to local news media.

In a special session Nov. 7, the Saeima in a 55-43 vote approved a cabinet of ministers that draws from the ranks of four different and largely conservative political groups.

Among the appointments is Latvia’s first female foreign minister, Sandra Kalniete.

Leading the government will be Repše, the former Bank of Latvia governor whose conservative reform party, New Era (Jaunais laiks), won the most seats in the Oct. 5 parliamentary election. Also in the coalition is the conservative Christian party, Latvia’s First Party (Latvijas Pirmā partija); the nationalist For Fatherland and Freedom (Tēvzemei un brīvībai/LNNK), and the coalition between the Green Party and the Farmers’ Union (Zaļo un zemnieku savienība).

Left out of the coalition—as expected—are the other two major players in the new parliament: Andris Šķēle’s People’s Party (Tautas partija) and For Human Rights in a United Latvia (Par cilvēka tiesībam vienotā Latvijā, or PCTVL). The People’s Party is, like New Era, a conservative reform party. PCTVL, meanwhile, is a left-leaning party heavily favored by ethnic Russians.

The new government came together after several weeks of bickering over ministerial slots. Even with the approval, two cabinet posts remain empty, news reports said.

As part of the talks establishing the ruling coalition, each party was given charge of appointing some of the 17 ministers who are to run the government.