OECD's 2000 survey of the Baltic economies. This edition includes special features covering banking and financial system reform, enterprise reform and economic restructuring, and labour market and social policy developments in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
OECD's 2000 survey of the Baltic economies. This edition includes special features covering banking and financial system reform, enterprise reform and economic restructuring, and labour market and social policy developments in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
Estonia’s economy continues to perform well, and growing incomes support well-being. However, the expansion has peaked, and growth is set to soften due to weak international demand. Prudent fiscal policy has resulted in low debt, but spending pressures related to meeting infrastructure needs and ageing are mounting. Old age poverty is high and the proposal to allow early withdrawal of pension funds threatens macroeconomic stability and pension adequacy. The gender wage gap is among the highest in the OECD, and inequalities in income and health are considerable, reflecting gaps in the social safety net. The oil-shale sector is highly energy-intensive and is the main culprit behind Estonia’s high greenhouse gas emissions, but reducing dependence on the sector is challenging, as it is an important employer and meets 70% of Estonia’s energy needs.
OECD's 2000 survey of the Baltic economies. This edition includes special features coering banking and financial system reform, enterprise reform and economic restructuring, and labour market and social policy developments in Estonia, Latvia, and ...
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are determined to seek national independence and to engage in a transformation of their economies. Amongst all of the Soviet Republics, the Baltics are in the strongest position to do so. The period under Soviet rule has led to an unbalanced industrial structure, characterized chiefly in the bias towards large-scale, state-owned, industrial enterprises. However, within this constraint, the Baltics have also succeeded in developing high-tech industry, and this could provide the necessary flexibility to shift the industrial emphasis and adjust to the requirements of international trade.