##ed efforts to find new markets, and the geography of latvian foreign trade has expanded as a result. currently, more than 60 % of latvian foreign trade is with the eu countries, and new export partners have been found in latin america, middle east and other regions. • fdi still remains the main source of financing for the current account deficit. denmark, usa, sweden, germany, russia and the united kingdom are at the top of the investor ’ s list. • these positive developments allow us to forecast a moderate gdp growth of roughly 1 % in 1999, with annual inflation remaining low at approximately 2. 5 %. the central bank the main objective of the monetary policy of the bank of latvia, as defined by law, is price stability. independence of the bank of latvia is guaranteed by law and ensured in practice. no institution or person can influence the bank of latvia ’ s decisions. the governor and members of the board of governors are appointed by the parliament for a six - year term and cannot be dismissed, thus their personal independence is ensured. the central bank ’ s budgetary independence is also secured. the bank of latvia has adopted the full set of indirect, market - based monetary policy instruments in use at the european central bank. currently we are in the process of fine - tuning these instruments and increasing their efficiency. capital movements both current and capital account transactions have been fully liberalised from the first days of latvian independence. there are virtually no restrictions on cash and capital flows to and from latvia. banking sector development at present there are 25 commercial banks in latvia, including a branch of the french societe generale and subsidiaries of the german vereinsbank, finnish merita nordbanken and estonian hansabank. important foreign banking institutions are major shareholders in several latvian banks. the restructuring of the banking sector is practically complete : the industry is almost entirely in private hands. only one medium - sized bank ( mortgage and land bank ) remains state - owned, and another one ( latvian savings bank ) has the state as an important shareholder ( 41 % ). at end - september 1999, total assets of the banking sector reached lats 1. 73 billion ( around usd 3 billion ), and total equity - lats 169 million ( around usd 290 million ). stable growth from 1996 to the first half of 1998 ; impact of the russian crisis after august 1998 the banking sector reported particularly rapid growth starting with the second half of 1996. it was stable, orderly and controlled growth that went hand in

##lfsson, d. li and l. r. raymond, “ generative ai at work. ” national bureau of economic research working paper no. 31161 ( april 2023 ). 4 s. peng, e. kalliamvakou, p. cihon and m. demirer, “ the impact of ai on developer productivity : evidence from github copilot, ” arxiv : 2302. 06590 ( february 2023 ). boost total factor productivity ( tfp ) by 9 % over the next decade. 5 a similar sustained improvement in tfp in canada would raise the average income per - person by roughly $ 4, 000 a year. this productivity boost is not just from automating tasks. as workers in lower productivity jobs are replaced by ai, they are freed up to fill other, more productive jobs in the economy. and new products and services emerge. these latter two effects provide most of the positive impact on productivity. 6 however, more pessimistic estimates suggest that ai might have only a modest impact on productivity. 7 these assessments take the view that fewer tasks can be effectively automated. ai could also create negative outcomes, such as amplifying internet addiction and enabling malicious actors. these adverse effects could substantially decrease the net positive impact of ai. as we look at the effects of ai on the broader economy, we also need to ask if this technology will be transformative enough to significantly boost productivity growth. or will ai simply be the latest innovation in a chain of innovations — like the invention of the sewing machine or the evolution of telecommunications — to keep productivity rising at its historical pace. this matters a lot because productivity growth plays a key role in determining how fast the economy can expand without sparking inflation. so what is actually happening? the infrastructure needed to make ai broadly available is being built quickly. ai platforms are sprouting up, and it is getting easier for businesses — large and small — to access the technology. but we are still looking for the new products and services — and the new business models — that will transform efficiency and productivity. prices and inflation ai adoption — and its full effect on productivity — will play out over many years. in the long run, we can expect ai to boost productivity. higher productivity allows for higher wages and more spending without pushing up inflation. but what about in the short run? already, strong investment in ai technologies is boosting demand in the economy. the run - up