Today, the Saeima re-elected Māris Kālis and Zita Zariņa for the second term to the Council of Latvijas Banka. Māris Kālis' term of office will end on 12 March 2030, while Zita Zariņa's term of office will end on 14 April 2030.
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.
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.