Atis Slakteris
Encyclopedia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
. On January 22, 2008 he was appointed to the post of Minister of Finance, replacing Oskars Spurdziņš.
Controversy
In late 2008, Slakteris gave an interview with BloombergBloomberg Television
Bloomberg Television is a 24-hour global network broadcasting business and financial news. It is distributed globally, reaching over 200 million homes worldwide. It is owned and operated by Bloomberg L.P...
about Latvia's economic crisis
2008–2009 Latvian financial crisis
The 2008–2010 Latvian financial crisis, which stemmed from the global financial crisis of 2008–2009, was a major economic and political crisis in Latvia. The crisis was generated when an easy credit market burst, resulting in an unemployment crisis, along with the bankruptcy of many companies...
, during which he answered a question regarding the causes of Latvia having come to borrow money from the International Monetary Fund
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
as "nothing special". The phrases "nasing spesal" (mocking Slakteris' poor English and accent during the interview) and "my answer will be, but I will not say" became popular memes in Latvia.