Latvia has made great strides in closing the gender gap and now ranks 10th in the world in terms of opportunities available to women, according to a new report from the Geneva-based World Economic Forum.

The Global Gender Gap Report 2008, released Nov. 12, shows Latvia moved up three spots from last year’s ranking to enter the Top 10. The report measures the gap between men and women in four areas: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, political empowerment, and health and survival.

The report suggests Latvia has attained equality in educational attainment and is close to doing so in the area of health and survival. However, the country has a long way to go to close the gender gap in political empowerment.

Three years ago, when the World Economic Forum first released a gender gap report, Latvia ranked 19th.

Topping the 2008 list is Norway, which had a combined score of 0.824. In the report, a score of zero indicates inequality between men and women, while a score of 1 means equality. Latvia’s overall score is 0.740.

Finland is second, followed by Sweden, which slipped from the No. 1 spot last year. Ahead of Latvia at No. 9 is the Netherlands. The United States is 27th and Russia is 42nd, both jumping four spots up from last year. In last place is Yemen.

Lithuania, which last year ranked 14th, tumbled to 23rd in this year’s ranking. Estonia dropped to 37th this year from 30th last year.

Analysts for Denmark’s influential Danske Bank say they would not be surprised to see Latvia’s credit rating slip to “junk” status as the economic news out of Rīga continues to worsen.

A day after rating agency Standard & Poor’s again downgraded Latvia’s long-term foreign currency rating, Danske Research analysts announced on Nov. 11 that “it is now very clear that the rating agencies are deeply concerned about the state of the Latvian economy—as are we.”

Wrote Copenhagen-based analysts Lars Christensen and Violeta Klyviene: “We would not rule out that Latvia could be downgraded to ‘junk’ status in the near future—as we have recently seen with the rating of Romania.” Standard & Poor’s as well as Fitch Ratings have pegged Romania as below investment grade, which may deter foreign capital from flowing into the country.

Standard & Poor’s cut its rating of Latvian currency just two days after Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis announced the takeover of the country’s No. 2 commercial bank, Parex banka. Just a week earlier, the rating agency had already downgraded its assessment of Latvia’s ability to pay debts. Moody’s Investors Service, another rating agency, also cut its opinion of Latvia.

“The downgrade is obviously bad news, but not unexpected given the high level of leverage and continued large imbalances in the Latvian economy and the sharp deceleration in growth,” the Danske Research analysts wrote. “The nationalization of Parex bank undoubtedly is also weighing on Latvia’s ratings.”

The analysts also noted that the slowdown in the economy “is having a significant negative impact on public finances in Latvia.”

New York- and London-based Fitch Ratings, agreed. On the same day that Danske Research issued its latest analysis of Latvia, Fitch dropped Latvia’s foreign currency ratings and placed the country’s outlook as negative.

The decision, the rating service’s Eral Yilmaz said in a press release, “reflects Fitch’s view that in the absence of substantial and timely international financial support, Latvia faces the likelihood of a severe financial and economic crisis and a further downgrade of its ratings.”

Reacting to the recent ratings downgrades, Latvian Finance Minister Atis Slakteris said in a Nov. 11 press release that they must be viewed without exaggeration. Foreign investors, he said, view decisions like the takeoever of Parex in a wider context and remain positive about Latvia.

The Latvian government has taken over the country’s second-largest bank in a move it says is meant to protect taxpayers and bank customers.

Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis on Nov. 8 announced the government’s decision to take a 51 percent share in Parex Banka, according to media reports. The bank has more than 400,000 retail customers.

Finance Minister Atis Slakteris told journalists that in taking the decision, the government acted in the interest of taxpayers and bank clients. Parex, according to media reports, has experienced a recent drop in assets and could have faced bankruptcy.

“This responsible step is a signal that points to the government’s ability to act and decisiveness,” he said in a statement to the press. “The bank sector is especially important to the country, because it forms the lifeblood of the nation’s economy.”

The decision comes after weeks of speculation and warnings about a looming economic crisis in Latvia. The leading financial ratings services, most recently Moody’s Investors Service, have all cut their outlooks for Latvia.

“The global liquidity crisis will probably cause a shock to the Latvian banking system, which will reverberate throughout the rest of the economy,” Moody’s Senior Analyst Kenneth Orchard said Nov. 7 after the service downgraded Latvia’s currency rating. However, Moody’s noted that the presence of several large Nordic banks should offer stability to the Latvian market.

The Latvian government’s share in Parex will be controlled by the state-owned Hipotēku un zemes banka (Mortgage and Land Bank of Latvia).

Just weeks ago Parex reported a LVL 12.4 million profit for the third quarter of this year. With assets standing at LVL 3.14 billion at the close of third quarter, Parex is Latvia’s second-largest financial institution, according to the Latvian Commercial Bank Association. No. 1 is Swedbank, with LVL 5.12 billion in assets, while No. 3 is SEB Bank with LVL 2.99 billion. Hipotēku un zemes banka is ranked No. 8 with about LVL 959 million in assets.

Parex was established in 1992 and has been controlled by Valery Kargin and Vladimir Krasovitsky. It has offices and affiliates in 14 countries.