OREANDA-NEWS. September 06, 2011. Though the Ministry of Finance has yet to release its official prognosis for the nation's economy, Prime Minister Andrus Ansip said on September 1 that there are no surprises in store and that the government's forecast for this year's GDP growth is an even 7 percent.

"Forecasts published yesterday by commercial banks concluded that this year's economic growth would be higher than expected, but next year the growth will start to decline. The Ministry of Finance is of the same opinion," Ansip said at this week's Cabinet press conference.

As was the case with recent bank forecasts, the latest government prediction was radically higher than it was in spring, when the ministry announced it was expecting a 4 percent growth for the year.