OREANDA-NEWS. September 25, 2009. Governor of Eesti Pank ANDRES LIPSTOK gave on Thursday a presentation at the conference "Ariplaan 2010" (Business Plan 2010), where he emphasised that Estonia's earlier fiscal policy has been the key to the country's success throughout the economic crisis and this key must not be abandoned, reported the press-centre of Eesti Pank.

The central bank governor provided in his speech an overview of Estonia's current economic situation, stressing signs of stabilisation appearing in the economy. "Estonian undertakings have proved their ability to cope with times of economic turbulence. The competitiveness of our companies is affirmed by the volume of both exports and industrial production, which has remained at the level recorded in early spring," said Lipstok.

He added that at the same time domestic demand is still vulnerable due to rising unemployment. "Although the number of the unemployed increases with every week, it is important to emphasise that unemployment growth has eased and people's fear of losing their jobs has lessened," said Lipstok.

"The strong monetary system and the peg of the kroon to the euro make up the cornerstone of Estonia's stable economy. The current monetary system is definitely the factor that has been supporting growth-directed actions and that helps us stay focused on the changeover to the euro," commented Lipstok adding that strong Scandinavian banking groups have been a great advantage for us.

When speaking about ensuring stability, the central bank governor emphasised the existence of a sustainable budget. "The Estonian fiscal policy, i.e., the reserves and recent years' surpluses have definitely helped ease the contraction, since the considerable surplus has turned into a deficit. But the price of stability is continuous fiscal consolidation and restoring surpluses in the next years. Estonia's earlier fiscal policy has been earlier fiscal policy has been the key to the country's success throughout the economic crisis and this key must not be abandoned," said Andres Lipstok.