The country should somewhat lag behind its Baltic neighbors in terms of GDP growth this year, the Bank said in the latest update of its forecasts for Europe and Central Asia. In particular, the lender expects Estonia’s GDP to grow by 3 percent this year, and Latvia’s, by 3.6 percent.
The experts of the Bank noted that credit issuance to the private sector remained low in the Baltic countries last year.
The World Bank believes that recovery in the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region will continue to be the slowest compared to other regions in the world. Fast growth is only expected in Central Asian countries. For example, Turkmenistan’s GDP is expected to grow by 8 percent this year after an 11.7 percent surge last year.