Estonia central bank raises 2006, 2007 GDP growth forecasts to 8.1%, 7.6%

* TALLINN - The Bank of Estonia raised its forecasts for economic growth by 1.4 percentage points to 8.1 pct for this year, and by 0.7 pct points to 7.6 pct for next year, BNS news agency reported.
The central bank's forecasts are similar to those published by the finance ministry last month. The ministry has forecast growth of 8.2 pct this year and 7.7 pct next year.
The central bank expects consumer prices to rise by 3.6 pct this year and by 3.0 pct next year, slightly below the finance ministry's forecasts.
The central bank expects both exports and imports to grow by about 15 pct this year. Next year, it expects exports to grow by slightly above 14 pct, and imports to grow by less than 14 pct.
The ratio of the current account deficit to GDP will fall to 9.6 pct this year and to 9.4 pct next year, according to the Bank of Estonia forecasts.
The central bank lowered its forecasts for the unemployment rate by 1.8 pct points for both this year and next year to 7.0 pct and 6.4 pct respectively.
Average wages are forecast to rise by 8.3 pct this year and by 7.1 pct next year.