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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Latvian PM quits as crisis bites | Latvian PM quits as crisis bites |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| Latvian Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis and his government have resigned, amid political turmoil triggered by the Baltic state's economic crisis. | Latvian Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis and his government have resigned, amid political turmoil triggered by the Baltic state's economic crisis. |
| President Valdis Zatlers has accepted the resignations. | President Valdis Zatlers has accepted the resignations. |
| Earlier the two largest parties in the ruling centre-right coalition had demanded the PM's resignation. | Earlier the two largest parties in the ruling centre-right coalition had demanded the PM's resignation. |
| International lenders, including the IMF, World Bank and EU, have pledged 7.5bn euros (£6.6bn; $9.5bn) to shore up Latvia's struggling economy. | International lenders, including the IMF, World Bank and EU, have pledged 7.5bn euros (£6.6bn; $9.5bn) to shore up Latvia's struggling economy. |
| Protesters demanding the government's resignation clashed with police in the capital Riga on 13 January. | Protesters demanding the government's resignation clashed with police in the capital Riga on 13 January. |
| But Mr Godmanis then survived a parliamentary no-confidence vote on 3 February. | |
| Latvia's economy is in recession, having shrunk at the fastest rate since the early 1990s, when it split from the Soviet Union. It is expected to contract by 12% this year. | |
| Gross domestic product (GDP) fell 10.5% in the last quarter of 2008, compared with the same period a year earlier. | Gross domestic product (GDP) fell 10.5% in the last quarter of 2008, compared with the same period a year earlier. |
| The Latvian economy had been booming for several years, but the global credit crunch hit the country hard. | The Latvian economy had been booming for several years, but the global credit crunch hit the country hard. |