Latvia

Money & costs

Money

Latvia's currency, the lats (plural: lati), was introduced in March 1993 and has remained stable ever since. The lats (Ls) is divided into 100 santīmi (singular: santīms). Lati come in coin denominations of 1Ls and 2Ls and notes of 5Ls, 10Ls, 20Ls, 50Ls, 100Ls and 500Ls; and santīmi come in coins of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50. The 100Ls gold coin, minted in 1998, is a rarity.

The national bank Latvijas Bankas (Latvian Bank; www.bank.lv) posts the lats' daily exchange rate on its website.