Latvian lats being equivalent to 1 lats. The 5 lats banknote was introduced at first, and the last banknote to be introduced was the 500 lats banknote on 20 July 1998. The lats was replaced on 1 January 2014 by the Euro, at the rate of 0.702804 Lats to 1 Euro. The second lats can be exchanged to euros at the official rate at the Bank of Latvia's cashier's office in Riga. Coins were issued in denominations of 1 santīms, 2 and 5 santīmi, 10, 20 and 50 santīmu, 1 lats and 2 lati. Besides standard coins in the list below and
Baltic states housing bubble was unsustainable; many banks in the Baltic states found themselves "trapped" with high debts denominated in euros. When the housing price in the Baltic states crashed, banks in the Baltic States were unable to re-pay their debts due to high non-performing loans and lacked of liquidity to sufficiently cover their debts to the parent banks. Following the integration with the European Union, the Baltic States enjoyed strong economic growth and subsequently among the fastest economic growth in Europe. Thus, the Baltic States emerged as the top destinations for foreign direct investment (FDI). Generally majority FDI into the Baltic States was