Croatia’s economic vulnerability is discussed in this study. Using the balance sheet approach (BSA), this paper analyzes Croatia’s overall and sectoral vulnerabilities. Croatia’s financial sector balance sheet is exposed to liquidity, contagion, and currency risks. With...

This Selected Issues paper on the Republic of Estonia underlies gross and net international investment positions. Capital gains have been exceptionally beneficial to Malta’s external position, but have significantly worsened Estonia’s NIIP, and to a lesser degree, positions in...

This Selected Issues paper and Statistical Appendix provides a brief assessment of Cyprus’s external position and its composition in an international perspective. It discusses estimates of Cyprus’s external position based on partial International Investment Position data as well as...

This 2002 Article IV Consultation highlights that in 2001, overall real growth for Kuwait fell slightly as oil output dropped following OPEC-mandated production cuts. The real non-oil GDP growth decelerated to 0.5 percent from 1 percent in 2000 as the private sector investment remained broadly...

This Selected Issues paper describes the recent economic developments in The Gambia. The paper highlights that the economic performance of The Gambia deteriorated sharply in 2002, as sparse rainfall led to a decline of one-third in agricultural output. Real GDP shrank by 3 percent. However,...

While large inflows of capital into Southeastern Europe (SEE) have raised incomes, this has increased vulnerability to financial risks, which, if realized, can lead to costly adjustments. Traditional vulnerability indicators in SEE have reached levels that in other countries have not been...

This paper presents an overview of the economy of Hungary. The paper highlights that during the Fifth Five-Year Plan (1976–80), actual growth rates for almost all major plan aggregates remained below the targets. The lower targets set for the increase in both consumption and investment in...

This Selected Issues paper examines developments in Estonia’s expanding net external obligations, as well as in domestic income flows and balance sheets. The paper discusses external current account and net international investment positions. Domestic investment and saving and balance...

In the literature on exports and investment, most productive firms are seen to invest abroad. In the Helpman et al. (2004) model, costs of transportation play a critical role in the decision about whether to serve foreign customers by exporting, or by producing abroad. We consider the case of...

We document external investment positions among European Union countries at the start of the financial crisis through the creation of a new database comprising bilateral external financial asset and liabilities, excluding reserve assets and derivatives. While there are some gaps in the data, the...