ECB’s Kazāks to Return, Having Gotten the Nod for Another Term at the Head of Latvijas Banka

6 February 2025

By David Barwick – FRANKFURT (Econostream) – European Central Bank former and incoming Governing Council member Mārtiņš Kazāks on Thursday got the approval of Latvia’s Parliament, the Saeima, for a second term at the head of Latvijas Banka.

With 67 votes supporting him and only 18 opposed (along with four abstentions), Kazāks’ victory brings to a close a somewhat embarrassing and utterly needless saga of Latvian political manoeuvring and indecision.

His first five-year term of office ended on 21 December. Although eligible under Latvian law for a second term, and completely willing to serve one, there were initially also two other candidates for the position, one of whom seemed to have strong chances at securing sufficient parliamentary backing.

However, on 18 December, parliamentary supporters of Kazāks and his chief opponent withdrew the candidacies of both, following which the Saeima failed to support the third candidate. That set the stage for an even more complicated second round involving numerous candidates.

Through it all, Kazāks - who notwithstanding Latvian political fickleness is widely recognised as having fully restored the reputation of the country's central bank following the scandal surrounding his predecessor – stayed in the game that he has now won.

Given the Latvian central bank has in the interim only had an acting governor – namely Deputy Governor Māris Kālis, who was only able to participate in last week’s Governing Council meeting as an observer  – and in view of Kazāks’ presumed ready availability, he is likely to reoccupy his accustomed position without delay, probably today.

In any case, he will be there for the ECB's 6 March rate decision - in which, purely coincidentally, Latvia does not have a vote.