##e taught for thirteen years in the prestigious columbia university in new york. there he mainly focused on development economics, earning a great reputation as an international advisor on the subject. he died unexpectedly and still relatively young at only 51. the view of ragnar nurkse of the time notes his thorough knowledge of economic theory and practice, his original ideas, and his clear vision. he was the sort of man who is clearly needed in the world today. when estonia regained its independence it chose the path of reform, with a unique combination of conservatism, innovation and a recognition of its own limitations. estonia chose once again the road to europe. eesti pank concentrated on stabilising the economy and on earning and maintaining confidence in the estonian currency. today the european union and its member states are estonia ’ s main partners both economically and politically. working together with the european system of central banks has become a matter of course for eesti pank, be it in monetary policy, financial stability or economic analysis. we are in an unprecedented position to engage in defining the economic world around us, and our input is listened to. evidently there are limits on how much a small country can contribute in the functioning of the european union, because smaller countries have fewer resources. but we can widen bis central bankers ’ speeches those limits by making the best use of our resources, by learning from our own experience and that of our partners, and by working well together. working together is particularly important right now, at a time of geopolitical tensions in and around estonia and of deepening insecurity. it is right now that we need to find the ideals, the ideas, and the goals that can bring us together, and we must work together to achieve them. i wish us strength and good luck in all of this. thank you again. bis central bankers ’ speeches

, the fixed exchange rate based policy is the best way to ensure the stability of money for both enterprises and households. confidence in our own money is one of the most important factors in defeating the crisis. thus, joining the euro area will be a logical continuation to our current monetary policy and accelerate exiting the crisis. it is clear the adoption of the euro will offset the risks that have been overly amplified in the current market situation. moreover, the changeover will reinforce the credibility of estonia's financial system and the banks operating here. to sum up, estonia's accession to the euro area is the country's short - term economic policy priority, which increases confidence in estonia's economy. like we have said before, estonia has all the possibilities for meeting the maastricht criteria already at the end of 2009. the stability and credibility of the banking groups operating here, supported by close cooperation between baltic and nordic countries also help estonia overcome the crisis. banks in estonia have sufficient funds to support restructuring in both the business sector and the entire economy. eesti pank's analyses confirm that the current capitalisation is sufficient to cover possible larger loan losses without banks having to include additional capital. the resources of banks allow their lending decisions to be based on favourable medium - term and longer - term economic outlooks, since estonia's economic convergence, i. e., the movement of our income level towards that of eu richer countries, will continue also in the future. thus, the goal of banking and financial sector policy is cooperation with the home countries of the banks operating in the eu and estonia to ensure the functioning of the common banking market and group - level stability. the steps taken by the home countries of the banks operating in estonia have considered the interests of the entire group and thus supported financial stability in estonia. in this light it has to be emphasised that the measures to support the economy approved in estonia allow state aid also in a situation where financial markets no longer function normally. but the main aim of the state support measures is to organise the financing of starting and exporting enterprises. the total debt burden of estonia's enterprises is relatively big and a decline in the total volume of debt in 2009 is a natural reaction to previous years'rapid increase. the sustainability of fiscal policy is very important for restoring confidence in estonia and adopting the euro. when looking at the changes made in the budget this year and at the new fiscal strategy, it has to be pointed out that the support of