The government reached an agreement on a four-year state budget strategy with Minister of Finance Keit Pentus-Rosimannus (Reform) saying there were cuts to be made on fixed costs. The new budget strategy will work towards balancing the budget and cuts will be made in every area of government. Each sector will propose where savings can…
A grand shift in thought patterns is taking place in USA following the change of administration, the importance of which for the Estonian economy cannot be overestimated, James York writes. U.S. imports were down by 6% last year, while Estonian export to the U.S. grew by 15.5%, to EUR 1.123 billion. While various trends speak…
Registered unemployment rose from 5.8% to 8.7% YoY as of the end of the first quarter of 2021, particularly in more rural counties, which had been hit hard by the ongoing economic effects of the pandemic even if their reported coronavirus rates were not as high as other areas. Women, too, have been hit more…
Tax take from Estonia’s e-residency system rose by around a third YoY in 2020, the state agency Enterprise Estonia reported, a record year in terms of direct economic impact since the system was launched in 2014. Companies set up by individuals all over the world who are registered e-residents paid in close to EUR 17.5…
New opportunities for Estonian businesses have emerged during the COVID-19 crisis, as global supply chains get shorter and become more regional, Governor of the Bank of Estonia (Eesti Pank) Madis Muller has said at a conference on economic security. Muller said there was a global trend in shortening the supply chains for the production of…
Farming output in Estonia dropped by 2% in 2020, compared to the year of 2019 and this was in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Minister of Rural Affairs Urmas Kruuse said. On April 15, the Rural Affairs Minister stated: “As was the case with other sectors, agriculture did not remain unaffected by the COVID-19…
The supplementary budget issued in response to the continuing coronavirus pandemic passed its Riigikogu vote on April 14 by 73 votes to 9, meaning the EUR 641-million aid package, aimed at mitigating the effects of the pandemic, and ensuing restrictions, on the health care system, education, business and the populace as a whole, would enter…