RPT-ECB Trichet:Estonia must focus on exports once in euro zone
Mon Sep 20, 2010 7:44am EDT
(Repeats to fix technical glitch)
TALLINN, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Estonia, together with some euro-zone countries, must revamp its economy and become more export-oriented to see sustainable growth, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said on Monday.
Estonia will become the 17th country to adopt the euro in January after European Union finance ministers accepted its application in July.
"This is no time for complacency," Trichet said in a conference to celebrate Estonia's impending entry to the common currency area.
"It will be particularly important for Estonia and other euro area countries to support the reallocation of domestic resources to export-oriented, high value-added sectors in order to ensure a return to sustainable external positions."
Trichet also said Estonia must work to keep inflation from spiking after the euro entry and said wages should not rise too much across the board.
"To encourage sustainable job creation, it is important to ensure that wages remain sufficiently flexible," he said.
"Finally -- but crucially from the ECB's perspective -- the Estonian authorities must remain alert and take forceful action if necessary, to ensure that the low inflation environment that has been achieved in the recent past is sustained over the years to come."
Despite the fiscal woes of euro zone members such as
Greece, Ireland and Portugal and fears of long-term debt issues dampening growth, the tiny Baltic nation has remained keen on entering the euro zone, the culmination of its drive West after the break-up of the former Soviet Union in 1991.
All 27 European Union members are obliged to drop their national currencies and adopt the euro when they fulfil the criteria, with the exception of Britain and Denmark who have opt-out clauses.
The ECB head also said European institutions should institute tougher enforcement of rules, which should contribute to a deeper economic union.
Estonia will be the third-smallest economy in the euro zone when it joins next year, making up around 0.2 percent of the bloc's total. It will also be the poorest country in the zone by GDP per capita according to official European statistics.
(Reporting by
Marc Jones and
Sakari Suoninen; Editing by Hugh Lawson)