Riga - The economic gloom afflicting the Baltic states got several shades darker Tuesday with a fresh forecasts revising expectations downwards.

Until mid-2007 the so-called 'Baltic Tigers' of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia recorded Europe's fastest growth rates, but their economies have stalled spectacularly in the wake of the global downturn.

According to a spring forecast from the Estonian Ministry of Finance, the economy in the smallest of the Baltic states will contract by 8.5 percent in 2009.

Riga - Latvia's Parex Bank, which was nationalized in November to prevent its collapse, on Tuesday reported net losses of 124 million lats (232 million dollars) for
2008.

Chairman Nils Melngailis, who has helped stabilize the stricken lender since being appointed by the government, said he was optimistic about the bank's future prospects and that there was no need to rush to a sell-off of the bank's assets.

Riga - Latvia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Monday that it was investigating claims that it had fallen victim to a Chinese-based cyber-spying operation.

"There are threats at all times which we monitor and work to avoid," a ministry spokesman told the German press service dpa.

A co-cordinated cyber-spying operation, dubbed "GhostNet" by Canadian researchers who exposed the hi-tech spy ring, infected two computers belonging to the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to a new report.

Riga  - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will open a permanent office in the Baltic state of Latvia "very shortly" officials confirmed Thursday in the capital, Riga.

The news came after the IMF's Mark Griffiths and Elena Flores met with Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis, other members of his administration and officials from the Latvian central bank.

In response to a question from the German Press Agency dpa, Griffiths told reporters "We will be opening an office very shortly."

Riga  - Latvian airline airBaltic confirmed Thursday it was "seriously considering" starting its own taxi company in response to passenger complaints about being ripped off by taxi firms as soon as they arrive in the Baltic state.

"Our primary goal is to have taxi services as transparent as possible in Riga," company spokesman Janis Vanags told the German Press Agency dpa

Riga - Eastern European foreign ministers, meeting in the Latvian capital of Riga, congratulated Albania and Croatia Tuesday "on their imminent accession" to NATO.

The two countries are due to be granted membership at the NATO summit in the French city of Strasbourg and Kehl and Baden-Baden in Germany starting on April 3.

The foreign ministers also voiced approval of recent elections in Macedonia.