Is Eastern Europe On The Brink Of An Asia-Style Crisis?

The collapse of the Thai baht in July 1997 helped spark the Asian financial crisis. Could events in Latvia spawn a similar contagion? Eyes are focused on this small Baltic economy--amid growing talk of a devaluation--because of the potential for spillover effects into its fellow Baltic states, Sweden and the broader Eastern European region.

Strong trade and financial linkages, not to mention similar macroeconomic vulnerabilities, mean a Latvian crisis would almost surely have knock-on effects on neighboring Estonia and Lithuania. A Latvian crisis would also have negative spillover effects into Sweden via Swedish banks' heavy exposure to the Baltic trio. The wild card is how a Latvian crisis would affect the greater Central and Eastern European (CEE) region. Direct trade and financial linkages between Latvia and the CEE economies, excluding the Baltics, are limited. Nevertheless, many of these countries--particularly Bulgaria and Romania--share similar macroeconomic vulnerabilities with Latvia, meaning a crisis there could awaken investors to the potential for crises in the rest of the region.

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