TALLINN, April 11 (Xinhua) -- The Estonian economy is predicted to grow 4 percent amid good economic situation in 2018, the Estonian Institute of Economic Research said on Wednesday.
Due to positive developments in the economy of the European Union and especially economies of Estonia's primary partner countries, Estonia's economic growth remains good this year, with the strengthening of the foreign environment reflected in Estonia's exports and carried over to domestic economy, showed the institute's latest publication.
The trend has raised the confidence of enterprises as well as households, and has increased their willingness to invest, according to the institute's analysts.
The present state of the economy was assessed with a maximum score of 100 in March, up five points compared to December 2017, they said.
The state of investments was given a positive assessment for the fourth quarter in a row, which was also the highest assessment since 2007, as a result of a broad-based growth of investments, both in enterprises and the government sector.
The present state of private consumption is also good, and for the fourth year in a row, the private consumption rating exceeds 50 points.
The institute's experts expect Estonia's economy to remain in its present good state for the next six months, while the average monthly salary in Estonia is forecast to rise to 1,297 euros (about 1,605 U.S. dollars).
More households saving increases the confidence of families, said Estonian Minister of Enrepreneurship and Information Technology Urve Palo in a press release.
She termed one of the important roles in the improved economic situation of households as tax-free income minimum being raised to 500 euros at the start of the year, as a result of which, 75 percent of employees receive up to 64 euros more each month.
Estonia's gross domestic product grew 4.9 percent year-on-year to 23 billion euros in 2017, Statistics Estonia announced in February.
