Märten Ross, Deputy Governor of Eesti Pank, gave a presentation
"Monetary Policy and Income Inequality - Some Observations" at the
conference "The Day of Dignified Work" organised by the Confederation
of Estonian Trade Unions. In his speech Ross provided an overview of
the formation of employment and wages in recent years.
"The rapid economic growth that followed Estonia's accession to the EU
was accompanied by several positive effects: many people found a job
and wage growth picked up. This was due to both the lack of labour
force and the opening of the labour market. However, a precondition for
a steady real income growth is equally growing productivity. Otherwise
wage growth will bring along an excessive increase in prices, which are
already under pressure because of the global price hike of commodities.
Both wage and price pressures are subduing now, but if we want to
continue to maintain employment and limit inequality, it is necessary
to keep the labour market flexible and the monetary policy tuned to
reducing inflation. Estonia's monetary policy is considered reliable.
According to the barometers of the Estonian Institute of Economic
Research, people expect inflation to drop during the next 12 months,"
said Ross.