Latvia's desire to join the so-called "rich countries' club" is currently in the balance with earlier OECD reports expressing reservations about the country's willingness to reform state owned companies and to tackle money laundering via its financial system which has strong links to Russia and countries of the former CIS.
The release from the Justice Ministry was keen to stress that the second issue at least has made considerable progress.
"Justice Minister Dzintars Rasnačs stresses that the OECD anti-bribery working group confirms a positive evaluation of Latvian readiness according to the OECD recognized standards effective in the fight against bribery and money laundering crimes," the release said.
However, the information contained nothing in the way of a concrete commitments by the working group to back Latvian OECD membership this year and instead listed areas in which progress has been made - or is planned to be made in the near future.
Rasnacs said the ministry "confirmed its commitment to continue an effective fight against corruption, including foreign bribery and money laundering" ahead of the next major evaluation in October this year.
Areas still to be tackled include improving the effectiveness of anti-graft agency KNAB and putting legal protection for whistleblowers in place.
