Today, Mārtiņš Kazāks, Governor of Latvijas Banka, submitted a proposal to Daiga Mieriņa, Speaker of the Saeima, to re-elect the Council Members Māris Kālis and Zita Zariņa for the second term.
The term of office of Māris Kālis who was appointed by the Saeima on 19 December 2024 to assume the duties of the Governor of Latvijas Banka between the expiry of the first term of Mārtiņš Kazāks and his re-election on 6 February 2025, will expire on 12 March 2025. Meanwhile, the term of office of Zita Zariņa as Council Member of Latvijas Banka will expire on 14 April 2025.
Each Council Member of Latvijas Banka operates within their respective areas of responsibility. In addition to his duties of Deputy Governor of Latvijas Banka, including overseeing Latvijas Banka's operations during the Governor's absence, the areas of responsibility of Māris Kālis include financial stability and macroprudential supervision, financial investment management, market operations, financial planning and control systems, and human resource management. Zita Zariņa oversees matters related to cash and non-cash payments and their development, and she is involved in the implementation of the digital euro project. Other areas of her responsibility include innovations, data and statistics, audit, and information technologies. Both candidates have been actively involved in the work of the European System of Central Banks within their scope of competence.
"I urge the Saeima to approve the candidacies of Māris Kālis and Zita Zariņa, allowing them to continue the work they have started and to implement new projects within their respective areas of oversight. Māris Kālis is crucial to the institutional strengthening of Latvijas Banka as he oversees the development and optimisation efforts and ensures successful investment management, along with other areas of responsibility. Zita Zariņa oversees the development of modern payments, with Latvia being one of the leading euro area countries in this sector. The areas of her responsibility include access to cash, innovation projects at Latvijas Banka, modern data management, audit, and others. During the first term of their office, Māris Kālis and Zita Zariņa proved themselves to be high-level professionals, and their work is valued not only in Latvia, but also at the euro area level. I hope that the Saeima will make a positive decision, particularly considering that it recently already approved Māris Kārlis for taking on the duties of Governor of Latvijas Banka. During one and a half months, he successfully managed the institution's day-to-day operations and oversaw the implementation of projects of significant public value, such as the project to inform the public about mortgage refinancing options,"
highlights Mārtiņš Kazāks.
Prior to his service at Latvijas Banka, Māris Kālis worked with the international auditing and business advisory firm Arthur Andersen. After joining Latvijas Banka's team, he has played a significant role in both the development of Latvijas Banka and successful implementation of national and international projects. The professional experience of Māris Kālis has involved close cooperation with the European Central Bank (ECB), including participation in addressing issues of the Governing Council and the General Council of the ECB, as well as work in international teams of experts, representing the International Monetary Fund in several technical assistance programmes in Europe. During his career with Latvijas Banka, Māris Kālis delivered lectures at the Faculty of Economics and Management (now renamed the Faculty of Business, Management and Economics) of the University of Latvia and contributed to the work of the Latvian Association of Certified Auditors.
Prior to joining Latvijas Banka's management team in April 2020, Zita Zariņa performed the duties of Member of the Council of the State Audit Office and served as Director of the Audit and Methodology Department. Before her work at the State Audit Office, Zita Zariņa was Deputy Director of the Central Finance and Contracting Agency (CFCA) for Strategy Issues and Head of Programme Management and Monitoring Department, and before that, she was Head of the Special Programme Project Department and Head of the Public Administration and Special Programme Project Department of the CFCA. Going further back, Zita Zariņa was Financial Manager at the Directorate-General for Enlargement of the European Commission and Phare Project Manager at the European Commission Representation in Latvia.