This paper on the Baltic countries analyzes medium-term fiscal issues related to European Union (EU) and NATO accession. The paper supports the Baltic authorities’ intention to aim at balancing their budgets over the economic cycle. The paper describes the Baltics’ current fiscal position...

The paper examines labor market developments in the four hard-peg European Union (EU) accession candidates during transition, with a view toward understanding the persistent high unemployment experienced in each country. Despite the significant levels of unemployment in all four countries, labor...

KEY ISSUES The Baltic economies have performed well in the last two decades relative to other transition and emerging market economies, but they face some common challenges calling for national and regional policy responses. These challenges relate to their ability to sustain economic growth...

This Selected Issues paper focuses on the Baltic model, Baltic-Nordic links, and convergence. The Baltic countries form a distinct group within a tightly integrated Nordic-Baltic region. They are following similar approaches to economic policy, broadly in line with those of Northern European and...

This paper analyzes the capital markets and financial intermediation in the Baltic States. It provides a comprehensive overview of the structure and level of development of the financial system, discussing some of the unique characteristics of the Baltics, such as leasing; and comparing the...

This paper analyzes competitiveness in the Baltics in the run-up to European Union accession. Several factors appear to have driven movements in equilibrium real exchange rates in the Baltics since the start of the transition process. In the earlier years of transition, price liberalization,...