First on Latvian banks deepening woes

Reuters reported exclusively that banks in Latvia were falling short of the central banks reserve requirements, a sign of the countrys financial fragility as it struggles to complete talks with the IMF. The Reuters story was cited by The Financial Times` FT Alphaville commentary service among others, showing how we led the way in flagging Latvia’s worsening problems. Reuters also was unmatched with a July 23 interview of Latvia’s economics minister during a week fraught with worries over the IMF holding back 200 million euros from the crisis-hit country. Artis Kampars told Reuters that Latvia hoped it could receive IMF funds in August and a second tranche of money from the European Commission this week — giving Reuters clients a headstart on news that broke days later that it had struck a deal with the IMF on budget cuts, and would receive a 1.2 billion euro tranche from the commission.