Baltic States
Central Europe’s retail boom comes crashing to an end
Years of consumption-fuelled growth have left Central European states with large retail sectors that are now facing a coronavirus-related slump. It’s set to get even worse once the initial urge to stockpile wears off.
EBRD reveals CEE/Eurasia economies’ vulnerability to external shocks amid coronavirus crisis
Development bank looks at the resilience of states in the region to falling commodity prices, value chain disruption, declines in tourism and domestic disruption.
Coronavirus threat pushes businesses online
From enabling their employees to work from home to offering new e-commerce services, companies in Central and Southeast Europe are moving their operations online in response to the coronavirus pandemic and associated lockdowns.
Small countries in Balkans and South Caucasus most exposed to tourism industry collapse
No one knows if there will be a summer tourism season at all in 2020, which is bad news for the countries that generate around a quarter of their GDP from the sector.
Capital Economics slashes CEE growth forecasts for 2020 to -2% y/y
Economic consultancy Capital Economics has slashed its growth forecast for the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) to a 2% y/y contractions from the previous 2.3% expansion in 2020, as a result of the coronavirus.
Baltic states roll out fiscal measures to prop up coronavirus-stricken economies
The pandemic is expected to push Baltic GDP growth below zero this year, an effect of choked domestic demand and spillovers from abroad.
Coronavirus crisis to widen rich/poor gap within Central and Eastern Europe
Convergence to be reversed as the economic crisis resulting from the coronavirus pandemic is set to be deeper and longer in the CIS, Ukraine, Turkey and the Western Balkans than in the EU member states of Central and Southeast Europe.
wiiw slashes 2020 growth forecast for CESEE to just 1.1%
Vienna-based think tank expects the coronavirus pandemic to result in the worst year for the region since the global financial crisis.
Coronavirus to hit Baltic countries’ economies hard
The outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic could shave up to 1pp off economic growth in the Baltic states, according to analysis from Swedbank.
CEE/CIS populations believe in gender equality in education but not in business or politics
More than 100 years since International Women’s Day was declared a national holiday in post-revolutionary Russia, a new survey from the UNDP reveals gender bias is still widespread across the region.