Posts tagged ‘Eastern Europe’

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21. siječnja 2012

Uoči referenduma

autora/ice cronomy

Svi protivnici ulaska u EU kojima je bojazan od ukidanja Hrvatske “opstojnosti” i “Euroslavije” zamračila um trebali bi pogledati posljednju kartu Europe. Prilično dobro je vidljivo gdje se nalazi “slavija” i tko je izostavljen ne vlasititim izborom. Upiranjem prsta u Norvešku i Švicarsku nije argument za ništa i jedino što potvrđuje je da Norveška i Švicarska nisu u EU.

Ovo nije protiv svih sa zdravim skepticizmom o benefitima EU, ali galama, nelogični argumenti i poštapalice koje zamjenjuju stvarno razmišljanje nisu zaslužili odgovor i vrijeme dana.


Posted in Uncategorized | Komentari isključeni za Uoči referenduma

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15. srpnja 2009

Ishod Latvije?

autora/ice cronomy

Oni koji prate Latviju znaju da se situacija (kriza, ne “samo” više recesija) mijenja gotovo pa dnevno. Najnoviji današnji događaji – u vezi smanjivanja proračunskog deficita, MMF i EK zajmova, uvjeta, valute – ne izgledaju obećavajuće i zapravo su zabrinjavajući ako uzmemo u obzir da će ishod tamo imati određenog utjecaja (npr. percepcija investitora u vezi proračuna i valute) na sve zemlje regije, na MMF i programe spasa.

Trouble in Latvia, again – (via FT Alphaville, via Reuters)

RIGA, July 15 (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund has put forward new, difficult conditions for Latvia to receive further loans, the prime minister said on Wednesday in a further sign the Fund is being tougher than the European Commission.

Latvia has already got agreement from the European Union for a further 1.2 billion euros of funding. The IMF has yet to agree on a tranche of 200 million euros it delayed from earlier this year. The loans are part of a 7.5 billion euro rescue package. “It has to be admitted the talks are fairly difficult and the conditions the IMF are proposing are also fairly difficult,” Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis told public radio.

IMF imposes new conditions on Latvia – (via Edward Hugh)

The IMF/EU Commission Rift on Latvia Seems To Be Deepening – sažetak stanja u Litvi od prije dva dana isto via Edward Hugh

Slobodno stavite još linkova u vezi Latvije u komentare.

Posted in Kriza | 8 komentara »

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15. travnja 2009

Poljska je, a da li će Hrvatska uzeti ili ostaviti?

autora/ice cronomy

Uzmi ili Ostavi za Hrvatsku?

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Posted in Fiskalna, Izbori HR, Javne Financije, Makroekonomija, Recesija, Sanader-Lider-Vlada | 3 komentara »

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04. ožujka 2009

EU, Ukrajina, Koreja

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EU je odbila Istočnu Europu …

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Posted in Ekonomska Politika, Europa, In English, Kriza, News-Vijesti, Nezaposlenost, Recesija, Sindikati, Troškovi, Unemployment, Zapošljavanje | Komentari isključeni za EU, Ukrajina, Koreja

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01. ožujka 2009

Istočna Europa dobiva $31.2 (€24.5) za spas

autora/ice cronomy

Tri banke/institucije, najveći multinacionalni investitori i zajmodavci u Istočnoj Europi, EBRD, World Bank i European Investment Bank daju €24.5 za spas bankarskog sektora i kreditiranja biznisa Centralne i Istočne Europe. “Davanja” se sastoje od zajmova, kupovanja učešća i direktnog kreditiranja malih i srednjih poduzeća, kroz dvogodišnji plan. Za vidjeti je još koliko će Hrvatska dobiti od tog ne pretjerano značajnog iznosa, te koliko će si Dr. Spin pripisati zasluga za “osiguravanje sredstava” iako ga u biti spašavaju . Pod stavkom 5. antirecesijskih mjera za HBOR se traži dodatnih €400 mil. upravo ovim putem. Da li traženje tih sredstava ovisi o rebalansu i općenito koliko-si-sami-možemo-pomoći principu?

Iz communiquea tri institucije:

This initiative complements national crisis responses and will deploy rapid, large-scale and coordinated financial assistance from the International Financial Institutions to support lending to the real economy through private banking groups, in particular to small and medium-sized enterprises. The financial support will include equity and debt finance, credit lines, and political risk insurance.

The response takes into account the different macroeconomic circumstances in and financial pressures on countries in eastern Europe, acknowledging the diversity of challenges stemming from the global financial retrenchment.

EBRD President Thomas Mirow said: “The institutions are working together to find practical, efficient and timely solutions to the crisis in eastern Europe. We are acting because we have a special responsibility for the region and because it makes economic sense. For many years the growing integration of Europe has been a source of prosperity and mutual benefit and we must not allow this process to be reversed.”

Dalje članak sa MarketWatch.com

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — The World Bank and two other multinational institutions issued a joint pledge Friday to provide up to 24.5 billion euros ($31.2 billion) to support the banking sector in Eastern Europe and fund lending to businesses.
Analysts, however, were skeptical that the size of the announced support would be enough to address the region’s vast economic woes.
The move by the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the European Investment Bank comes as Eastern European countries struggle to meet massive, foreign-denominated debt obligations. The International Monetary Fund has already provided loans to Latvia, Hungary, Serbia, Ukraine and Belarus.
Formerly robust inflows of cash have dried up amid the global economic crisis, and the region’s currencies have come under heavy pressure — a situation some economists see as a potential repeat of the Asian financial crisis of the 1990s.
Investors have grown increasingly concerned in recent days about the exposure of Western European corporations, including banks, to fragile Eastern European economies. The vulnerability of Western banks, particularly those based in Austria and Sweden, was spotlighted by ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service last week.
‘Time to come together’
The three organizations, the largest multilateral investors and lenders in Eastern Europe, said the package is designed to support lending to the real economy through private banking groups. Support will include equity and debt finance, credit lines and political-risk insurance.
“This is a time for Europe to come together to ensure that the achievements of the last 20 years are not lost because of an economic crisis that is rapidly turning into a human crisis,” said World Bank President Robert Zoellick, according to a statement from that institution.
Under the plan, the European Investment Bank is to provide about 11 billion euros in lending to small and midsize businesses in the central, eastern and southern parts of Europe. Some 5.7 billion euros are available for “rapid disbursement,” with an additional 2.8 billion euros set for approval by the end of April and further funds expected to follow, the bank said.
Meanwhile, the EBRD has committed to provide up to 6 billion euros for the financial sector in 2009 and 2010 through equity and debt finance, loans to banks and directly to small and medium-size businesses and trade finance.
The World Bank is to provide about 7.5 billion euros in support.
“For many years the growing integration of Europe has been a source of prosperity and mutual benefit, and we must not allow this process to be reversed,” said EBRD President Thomas Mirow in a statement.
Most of the ex-communist countries in Central and Eastern Europe have joined the European Union, thereby deepening their political and economic integration with the west.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the IMF, said the joint initiative “will assist individual financial institutions and sectors, while IMF lending will continue to support countries at the macroeconomic level.”
“Both aspects are important building blocks in the broader multilateral and bilateral efforts to support the region,” Strauss-Kahn said in a statement.
‘Small change’
Analysts, however, expressed skepticism whether the announced support would be enough.
“This money is really small change,” Timothy Ash, head of CEEMEA research at Royal Bank of Scotland. Total European bank exposure to Emerging Europe runs in excess of $1.5 trillion, he said.
“Given the scale of the problems, it will take a big-ticket program — a mini-TARP for the region — to pull the current collective negative market psychosis around,” Ash said, referring to the Troubled Asset Relief Program adopted by the American government to help the banking sector.
Ostatak teksta…

Posted in Banke i Financije, Foreign Aid, Javne Financije | Komentari isključeni za Istočna Europa dobiva $31.2 (€24.5) za spas

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26. veljače 2009

Njihov problem je naš problem

autora/ice cronomy

Daniel Gros na VoxEU.org blogu piše o težini i posljedicama problema Istočne Europe za “jezgru” Europe. Ističe kako su manji problem deficiti na tekućim računima platne bilance zemalja Istočne Europe; tečajni padovi bi ih mogli ispraviti za neke zemlje. Po njegovom mišljenju, čak i pretjerane deprecijacije valuta velikih zemalja ne bi stvorile nesnošljive probleme za bankovne bilance i kućanstva izložena valutnom riziku. (Hrvatska se tu nigdje ne spominje illi uklapa u rad.) Tako umjesto potpomognutih financiranja tekućih računa, zalaže se za uspostavljanje fonda za financijsku stabilnost koji bi kreditirao korporacije i kapitalizirao banke Istočne Europe jer za njihovu stabilnost, i tako čitave europe po mišljenju autora, protok kredita je nužno potreban.

As if core Europe did not have enough problems of its own, a new threat has arisen – collapse of the European periphery. The deteriorating foreign exchange and financial conditions of satellite countries in the euro area – from the Baltic region to Eastern Europe, Turkey and Ukraine, not to mention the imploded Icelandic financial system – add yet another source of uncertainty.

Their problems are our problems

The problems in Eastern Europe weigh particularly on the financial solidity of EU banks. EU banks provided the backbone of the banking and financial system in those countries and therefore they are now much exposed to the consequences of mounting capital flights and currency attacks in those countries.

EU banks are not yet strong enough to face additional losses from this front since, despite huge government rescue plans; they have in aggregate received little new capital (less than €200 billion for the entire euro zone). The Bank of International Settlements estimates that European banks hold somewhat more than $600 billion of cross-border claims on emerging European economies (probably 90% of the reported total of around $700 billion).1

When all European banks run for the exit (e.g. by refusing to roll over credit lines that come due or to extend further credit to their subsidiaries), they will be increasing their own losses.

….

Systemic stress requires a systemic response by the EU: The EFSF

In this environment of continuing systemic stress on the banking system, the case-by-case approach at the national level must be abandoned in favour of an ambitious EU-wide approach. The EU should set up a massive European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF). Given the scale of the problem facing European banks, the fund would probably have to be of substantial scale, involving about 5% of EU GDP or around €500–700 billion.2 This is more than might be needed for Eastern Europe, but the crisis is certain to get worse before a recovery begins, and it would be better to have such an instrument ready to face further emergencies. Most of the funds (say, 80%) would probably be used to provide credits (or buy existing ones at a discount), the remainder would be for capital injections, which would make the European Investment Bank (EIB) a major shareholder in the Eastern European subsidiaries of EU banks and probably also a major shareholder of in those EU banks most exposed to Eastern European risk. Eastern European banking systems would effectively be ‘Europeanised’.

Ostatak teksta i grafova ovdje.

Posted in Ekonomska Politika, Europa, Finance | Komentari isključeni za Njihov problem je naš problem

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21. veljače 2009

Oh, oh

autora/ice cronomy

U posljednjih tjedan dana došlo je do prave navale vijesti o ekonomijama i valutama Istočne Europe. Sve priče se vrte oko bojazni za veliku zaduženost tih zemalja, pogotovo u stranim valutama, te usporavanja ekonomskog rasta što će samo otežati otplatu dugova. U isto vrijeme, deprecijacije valuta diljem Istočne europe bi mogle povećati tu zaduženost. Kod nas još kolaju ideje da će deprecijacija omogućiti rast kroz nekakav čarobni izvoz u ovo doba. Ovo je samo posljednja vijest u nizu.

Latvia’s Government Is the Latest in Europe to Fail

Nation’s Latest Turmoil Over Economy, Following Leadership Collapses in Belgium and Iceland, Sparks New Fears of Contagion

By ALAN CULLISON

Latvia’s prime minister and cabinet resigned Friday, making it the third European government, after Iceland and Belgium, to be toppled by the economic crisis.

The fall of the Baltic country’s center-right coalition government — following weeks of political instability as the Latvian economy nosedives after years of strong growth — deepens worries that eastern Europe’s economic problems could send fresh shockwaves to its neighbors in the west.

Latvia’s Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis, who resigned, and President Valdis Zatlers, attend a news conference in Riga Friday. The government coalition collapsed, making it the third government to fall victim to the global financial crisis.

Latvian President Valdis Zatlers called for talks to patch together a new government, after accepting the resignation of Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis, in office since December 2007. He stepped down after the two largest parties in the ruling coalition said they had lost confidence in him.

Analysts say the political turmoil likely spells trouble for a €7.5 billion ($9.5 billion) International Monetary Fund loan program Latvia agreed to last year, which has helped underpin Latvia’s currency, the lat.

The government collapse could scuttle an unpopular austerity program that Latvia agreed to in order to avoid a currency devaluation. In January, social and political tensions exploded into some of the worst rioting since the collapse of the Soviet Union on 1991.

Any devaluation of the lat would likely have a knock-on effect elsewhere in the Baltics and in Scandinavia, whose banks were big lenders to Latvia and other Baltic states in the form of euro-denominated loans.

The turmoil in Latvia comes amid fears that weakening currencies in Eastern Europe could cause new defaults with western banks, and worsen the economic spiral in Europe. Shares of Scandinavian banks sank on news of the government resignation Friday, as did the value of the Swedish currency, the kronor.

Latvia’s news comes after the economic crisis also claimed the governments of Belgium and Iceland. In late January, Iceland’s leadership resigned after virtually the nation’s entire banking system collapsed and the island’s currency went into free fall.

On Friday came new data that the contraction in Europe is accelerating. A major purchasing managers index measuring private-sector activity in the euro zone hit a record low in January, the Markit Economics research firm said.

The data coincided with another report showing French business confidence in January at its lowest ebb since sentiment was first gauged in 1976.

European Union finance ministers are planning to discuss the Eastern European banking sector and “possible coordinated action” on Sunday at a summit of EU leaders of the Group of 20 nations in Berlin, a senior German finance ministry official said Friday.

ee_db2009

He added that this coordination would include the World Bank, European Investment Bank and European Bank of Reconstruction and Development. Increasing funds from the IMF would also be an option, he said, as the organization has around $200 billion at its disposal for bailout efforts and is seeking to more than double that.

Analysts have warned that Latvia is a particularly weak link in East Europe’s financial system because of an overvalued currency and large private sector debt denominated in euros.

The government last year turned to the IMF and a consortium of European countries for its loan to cover a ballooning current-account deficit. As part of the agreement, Latvia decided to resist a devaluation and launch an austerity program.

The economy’s decline has accelerated under the plan, with output falling more than 10% in the fourth quarter of 2008 from the previous year, meeting a common yardstick for a depression. On Wednesday the Finance Ministry predicted that gross domestic product would fall 12% this year.

Latvia’s president had pressured the government to cut back on the number of ministries to win back public trust. But the coalition of four ruling parties had been unable to reach a consensus.

If Latvia devalues its currency, Lithuania and Estonia, whose economies are closely entwined with Latvia’s, would likely follow suit.

—Andrea Thomas and Paul Hannon contributed to this article.

Write to Alan Cullison at alan.cullison@wsj.com


Posted in Banke i Financije, Europa, Finance, Monetarna | 1 Comment »

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