Gov8217;t servants salaries down 31 pct

The average salary for a ministerial worker plummeted from 1,136 lats 2,225,euro1,620 in February 2008 to 786 lats 1,540,euro1,120 in February 2008,according to the report.

In some ministries 8211; such as Regional Development and Agriculture 8211; average salary cuts reached 46 percent,while Foreign Ministry employees were hit with only a 17 percent reduction.

After years of excellent growth,Latvia was threatened with insolvency in late 2008 and had to appeal international lenders such as the International Monetary Fund and the European Union for emergency bailout funds.

Lenders pledged euro7.5 billion 10.5 billion over three years,requiring Latvia in exchange to make drastic cuts,including to its bloated bureaucracy and in budget expenditures.

During the boom years of 2004-8,public sector salaries skyrocketed,surging some 35 percent in 2007 alone.

The nation of 2.3 million currently has the EU8217;s worst economy in terms of economic output,with gross domestic product plummeting 18 percent last year.

The government has forecast economic growth will fall another 2 to 4 percent in 2010,though quarterly growth could resume in the second half of the year.