 | PRINT! | CLOSE! |
Ross talks up stabilization TALLINN -- Marten Ross, deputy governor of the Bank of Estonia (Eesti Pank), took the opportunity of an April 18 financial seminar in Spain to point out a new role for emerging Europe's economies as stabilizing influences when the larger economies look decidedly wobbly."The most pressing question of recent months has been what the extent of the financial turbulences stemming from the US financial markets is. The decrease in interbank trust has reached also the euro area and is sure to affect the financial system of developing countries. At the same time there are speculations about the possibility that the current global economic cycle allows developing countries to play a stabilising role. Estonia has so far been very little impacted and our financial sector remains strong, ensuring the financing of the economy," Ross said. According to the Eesti Pank number two, uncertainties arising from the financial system are gradually spreading, manifested in the deteriorating economic growth outlooks of several countries. "If the economic activity of our trading partners declines, it is possible it will decrease the Estonian exports, but so far, our foreign trade situation has been good," Ross said. He added that a much more serious problem is global inflation, which can also be associated with the financial market turbulences. "The impact of price growth has been large-scale and very strong. Food and fuel prices are high in both global markets and small countries. This, in turn, affects people's confidence." "Countries like Estonia are able to survive the recession period relatively painlessly owing to earlier economic reforms, but we definitely have to take into account there will be some changes in the economic structure. So far, Estonia has managed them successfully." |
|