OREANDA-NEWS. Estonian Minister of Finance Martin Helme announced that the country entered a phase of economic crisis.

“The numbers show that there has not been such a sharp drop since 2008,” the politician said. “The balances of enterprises will sharply decrease, and banks will begin to withdraw loans or require additional guarantees. Companies that finance themselves with bonds will no longer be able to do this,” he added.

Helme noted that the state of the economy in European countries in 2020 is much worse than 12 years ago due to high debt burden, unemployment and low competitiveness.

According to the Minister, the Estonian government plans to minimize the consequences of the new economic crisis, but it is almost impossible to predict how the situation will change. At the same time, he suggested that the fall in oil price will be temporary, and its cost will return to the level of 60–65 US dollars per barrel in half a year.