Banks, Estonia, Financial Services, Real Estate

In an interview to Postimees, Hansson listed that the banks have a very strong capital base; loans are granted rather on the basis of deposits, not from external sources; the proportion of bad loans is low and profitability is high.

Hansson estimates, however, that there are risks and on the one hand they are related to the vulnerability of the Estonian economy – the economy depends heavily on exports, and if anything should go wrong there, it can affect the health of the banks.

"Another risk is related to the Nordic real estate sector and Nordic economies more widely, where real estate prices have risen quite nicely, especially in Sweden, and if there, prices should start to go in the other direction, setbacks can occur that affect the behaviour of these same banks in Estonia," said Hansson.

The third risk relates to the Estonian real estate market, where only half a year ago, Europe's fastest real estate prices growth took place.