The Impact of the Global Crisis on South-Eastern Europe

This paper analyzes the impact of the global crisis on six South-Eastern European countries. The main objective is to compare macro-financial conditions and policies in the run-up to the crisis as well as to compare the policy responses to it, so as to highlight, inter alia, possible country-specific constraints. While sharing a common precrisis pattern of strong capital inflows and robust growth, a key difference in the conduct of macroeconomic policies is that some countries adopted expansionary (and procyclical) fiscal policies. These moves exacerbated extern al vulnerabilities and compromised the ability to discretionarily use the fiscal instrument in a countercyclical fashion.