The Baltic Countries
Subtitle: From Economic Stabilization to EU Accession
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Published: January 1998
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 88
ISBN-13: 9781557757388
Subjects: International finance
First sentence: The process of adjustment and reforms in the Baltics deserves attention for three overaching reasons: (1) the extent and speed of transformation from the central plan and political repression to the market and democracy; from plummeting output and living standards and high inflation to high growth, low inflation, and rapidly rising real incomes; and from reliance on the central bank and bilateral and multilateral sources for financing to accessing domestic and international financial markets; (2) the policy challenges the countries have faced in choosing and maintaining exchange rate regimes; confronting weaknesses in the banking system; protecting public revenues while adjusting the pattern of expenditures; and resolving problems of interenterprise and energy arrears; and (3) an opportunity for a cross-country prospective based on similarities in size, starting positions, external shocks, and policy objectives, and differences in the choice of policies and their timing.