Estonia and the European Debt and Economic Crisis
Country Reports
With beginning of 2011 Estonia has adopted the Euro and completed its integration into the Eurozone. In fact, this marked the culmination of a drastic re-orientation regarding the Estonian economy: From a former Soviet Union (SU) planned economy to a Western market economy. The process has begun in the early 1990s with Mart Laar's government implementing a number of economic and political reforms in order to pave the way towards economic freedom and prosperity and democratic stability. In the beginning of its journey from the SU to the European Union (EU), Estonia faced Soviet Ruble inflation exceeding 1.000 percentages, soaring unemployment and political uncertainty. In 2011, the Baltic Tiger enjoyed a solid, well-balanced state budget and a debt of only 6.6 percentages of its gross domestic product (GDP). Recent data by the European Central Bank (ECB) indicates that Estonia is together with Luxemburg and Finland one of the few member states in the Euro-Zone that has sufficient financial resources in order to repay its debt.
Provided by
Foundation Office Baltic States
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