During the last decade several CESEE countries built up high external liabilities vis-à-vis foreign banking sectors, with Austrian banks being important creditors. The provision of crossborder credit allowed for rapid financial deepening in many of these countries but also led to a build-up of...

This study was drafted during the preparation of the Fifth Joint High-Level Eurosystem – Bank of Russia Seminar hosted by the OeNB in Vienna on March 11–12, 2009. The first part of the study illustrates developments in the euro area, where the financial sector suffered to some extent from...