14 October

Prime Minister Andrus Ansip met the delegation from the IMF on its annual visit to Estonia in order to discuss Estonia’s economic and financial policy situation. Given the developments occurring in the euro zone, the brunt of the IMF’s attention was aimed at fiscal policy and reinforcing it.

Prime Minister Ansip gave the IMF representatives an overview of the latest developments in Estonia’s economy, the outlook for the economy in the coming years, and the principles of budgetary policy. “The strict financial policy that Estonia has practiced thus far has paid off in every sense,” Ansip said at the meeting. “Estonia’s government debt is the smallest in the European Union and is running only a small budget deficit. Our goal is to keep Estonia attractive for foreign investors, as it is thanks to foreign investments that new jobs are created.”

He added that Estonia had taken into account the instability of the situation in the world and European financial markets in recent months. “The more pessimistic economic forecasts from the rest of the world, including those of Estonia’s main trading partners, point compellingly to the need to continue a conservative budget policy,” said Ansip.

The IMF delegation’s visit to Estonia will last a week and a half. During this time, the IMF representatives will meet with members of government and Parliament, officials and analysts of the Bank of Estonia and the Financial Supervision Authority, heads of commercial banks and private sector companies, and representatives from a number of government bodies.

The summary of the visit will be presented by IMF delegation head Alexander Hoffmaister on Monday, 17 October from 1-2 pm at a press conference to be held at Eesti Pank.