BANK OF LATVIA DENIES RUMORS THAT MORE BANKS ARE INSOLVENT.

The Bank of Latvia and the Association of Latvian Banks saidJuly 18 that unidentified individuals have been phoning businessmenin Latvia and urging them to withdraw their funds from banks whichthe callers say are likely to go bankrupt, BNS reported July 19.Such panic-mongering only makes the situation worse, the Bankof Latvia said. Since January, 12 of the country’s 55 banks havesuspended operation, including the large Baltija Bank which had500,000 depositors. That bank’s failure has been linked to theactions of Russian banks and officials.

Lithuanian Government Increases Security after Execution.