OREANDA-NEWS. April 11, 2014. Just a day after the Ministry of Finance downgraded economic growth hopes for the current year to 2 percent from 3.6 published in September, Swedbank, the largest bank in Estonia, has jumped on the bandwagon, cutting its forecast from 3 percent in January to 1.8 percent.

As other institutions, Swedbank cited slower than expected recovery in the main trading partners, and the weakening of Russia's economy.

“Import demand will only strengthen in Sweden, which is not enough to quickly restore Estonian export sector's growth,” Tonu Mertsina, the bank's chief economist said.

He said Estonian companies are reluctant to invest due to the uncertainty surrounding Russia.

Nordea bank predicted a 2.8 percent growth for 2014 in March, while SEB has been the most pessimistic, forecasting only 0.5 percent economic growth for Estonia.

The nation's economy expanded by 0.8 percent last year. Swedbank said the economy could grow by 3 percent in 2015.