From this overview, it is evident that, despite the significant progress made in previous years, the convergence process of the financial structures of the new EU Member States with those of the euro area is not yet complete. I will come back to this issue – and how we see the road ahead for the new Member States – later.
At this stage, allow me to address two issues that are very topical for both the Latvian economy and several other new Member States: strong credit growth and rapidly rising house prices. III. Credit growth  Let me start, on the question of credit markets, by pointing to three characteristic facts.