Ansip: money invested in ESM won't be lost
15.08.2012, 12:56Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip Tuesday said the country needs to go ahead and invest in the euro zone's permanent rescue fund as it will help build a security buffer against the currency bloc's sovereign debt crisis.
"I do not agree that investing in ESM would be lost money," Mr. Ansip told a press conference.
The decision to invest in the bloc's permanent bailout vehicle, the European Stability Mechanism, is expected to be debated in the Estonian parliament Aug. 30.
The ESM treaty was legally challenged earlier this year, with opponents voicing concern that the structure of the ESM's emergency voting procedure would allow bigger euro states to override smaller ones.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Mart Rask last month said Estonia's EUR1.3 billion commitment to the ESM would cost each citizen about 1,000 euros per person.
Ansip compared the ESM to the International Monetary Fund and said it should be seen as an insurance policy against potential damage to Estonia's economy from the euro-zone debt crisis.