The US and western Europe are not the only regions facing a credit crunch. Parts of central and eastern Europe are undergoing financial stresses of their own – and in some cases the situation is getting very ugly.
As the IMF’s recent Global financial stability report makes clear: eastern Europe includes several countries that have been heavily dependent on foreign capital flows, largely debt, in financing big current account deficits, and they are now acutely vulnerable.
To make matters worse, many of these countries have seen strong credit growth over the past few years. A dramatic slowdown in private flows to the region could lead to a painful adjustment.
The...
