Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08TALLINN97
2008-03-07 14:09:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Tallinn
Cable title:  

FISCAL TRANSPARENCY IN ESTONIA

Tags:  EAID ECON PREL EN 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ1042
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTL #0097 0671409
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 071409Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY TALLINN
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 0545
UNCLAS TALLINN 000097 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EEB/IFD/OMA Andrew Snow and Richard Figueroa
EUR/ACE Marta Youth
EUR/PGI Thomas Cunningham
EUR/NB Katherine Garry

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID ECON PREL EN

SUBJECT: FISCAL TRANSPARENCY IN ESTONIA

REF: STATE 16737

UNCLAS TALLINN 000097

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EEB/IFD/OMA Andrew Snow and Richard Figueroa
EUR/ACE Marta Youth
EUR/PGI Thomas Cunningham
EUR/NB Katherine Garry

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID ECON PREL EN

SUBJECT: FISCAL TRANSPARENCY IN ESTONIA

REF: STATE 16737


1. (U) The following information on fiscal
transparency in Estonia is provided for use in updating
the 2003 country narrative - as requested reftel.

-- The Government of Estonia (GOE) has set out
transparent policies and effective laws to foster
competition and establish "clear rules of the game."

-- The main objective of Estonian public financial
management is to ensure conditions for stable economic
development through fiscal policy. Under the Estonian
Constitution, the government is required to establish a
balanced budget.

-- According to Eurostat, Estonia had the smallest state
debt of EU countries in 2006, and Estonia's budget
surplus was the third largest in the EU after Denmark
and Finland.

-- In comparison with previous years, Estonia's
government sector surplus has increased considerably
both in absolute terms and as a percentage of GDP. In
2004 and 2005, the surplus was 1.8 and 1.9 percent of
GDP, respectively. For the first time, all of the
levels of the government sector - the central
government, social insurance funds and local governments
- were in surplus in 2006, mostly due to more favorable
macro-economic developments than expected.

-- Although the official 2007 statistics are not out
yet, the general government budget was also in surplus
in 2007, and is expected to be in surplus also in the
near future.

-- According to Transparency International's 2007 annual
Corruption Perceptions Index, Estonia was in 28th place
globally among 180 countries and was tied with Slovenia
as the least corrupt country in Central and Eastern
Europe.

-- Estonia's economy is 77.8 percent free, according to
Heritage Foundation's 2008 Index of Economic Freedom,
which makes it the world's 12th freest economy. Estonia
ranked 5th freest out of 41 countries in the European
region, and its overall score is much higher than the
regional average.

-- The state budget is available on the State Budget
website: http://riigieelarve.fin.ee/ All revenues and
expenditures are included in the publicly available
budget and are accurate.

-- Estonia's report to the IMF on compliance with
standards and codes covering fiscal transparency can be
found at:http://www.imf.org/external/pubs /ft/scr/2002/
cr02132.pdf

PHILLIPS