IMF Special Issues

The Baltics: Competitiveness on the Eve of EU Accession

By Yuan Xiao, Robert M Burgess, Stefania Fabrizio

July 7, 2004

Preview Citation

Format: Chicago

Yuan Xiao, Robert M Burgess, and Stefania Fabrizio. The Baltics: Competitiveness on the Eve of EU Accession, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2004) accessed September 18, 2024

Summary

Large current account deficits in Estonia and Latvia, and the continued real appreciation of the exchange rate in Lithuania, have prompted concerns about the competitiveness of the Baltic economies, and called into question the sustainability of their current fixed exchange rate arrangements. Recent external performance, however, appears to be explained more by temporary or cyclical developments than by a deterioration in the underlying competitive position of the Baltic economies. This book assesses the competitive position of the Baltic countries and focuses, in particular, on the viability of the countries’ strategy of maintaining their fixed exchange rates on joining the European Union, participating in its exchange rate mechanism, and then adopting the euro at the earliest possible date.

Subject: Exchange rates, Foreign exchange, Inflation, Prices, Production, Productivity, Purchasing power parity, Real effective exchange rates, Real exchange rates

Keywords: A. labor productivity, Baltics, ERM II fluctuation band, EU accession, Exchange rate, Exchange rates, Inflation, ISI, Productivity, Productivity convergence, Productivity performance, Purchasing power parity, Real effective exchange rates, Real exchange rates, SI, Total factor productivity

Publication Details

  • Pages:

    79

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  • Series:

    IMF Special Issues

  • Stock No:

    ISIEA0042004

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