RIGA, Oct 6, 2008 (AFP) - As Latvia struggles with recession, betting on official monthly inflation figures has become an opportunity to strike it rich with bookmakers offering attractive odds.

Internet users can place wagers on September year-on-year annual inflation figures due to be released by the Latvian office of statistics on Wednesday.

Gamblers betting it will be between 14.4 to 14.9 percent can win 30 percent of their wager on the triobet.com betting portal.

Inflation stood at 15.7 percent in August year-on-year, down from a 12-year high point of 17.9 percent in May.

High-risk gamblers can more than triple their money, if they bet that inflation will slip below 14.4 percent.

In the least likely case of the inflation rate climbing above 14.9 percent, gamblers could score a seven-fold return on their bet, according to triobet.com.

Independent experts at SEB bank predict it will hit 14.4 percent year-on-year in September.

Once the fastest growing economy in the European Union, reaching a peak of 13 percent gross domestic product growth in the first quarter of 2006, Latvia has fallen into recession this year with official statistics released in early September showing negative growth in the first two quarters.

Statistics Latvia confirmed that growth in the second quarter dropped by 0.2 percent compared to the first quarter of 2008.

First quarter GDP growth was also negative, down 0.3 percent from the last quarter of 2007, it said.

Experts have predicted further negative growth.

Last week, citing worries about the economies of the Baltic states, the London-based Fitch Ratings credit agency downgraded the ratings of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and kept their outlooks negative.