Financial Systems in Western Balkans : Present and Future
Following a decade of conflicts, Western Balkan countries accomplished robust economic growth in the 2000s. This growth pattern was domestic demand driven and externally financed, hence was hampered significantly by the global financial crisis and...
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| Language: | English en_US |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2016
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2016/07/26603683/financial-systems-western-balkans-present-future http://hdl.handle.net/10986/24949 |
| Summary: | Following a decade of conflicts, Western
Balkan countries accomplished robust economic growth in the
2000s. This growth pattern was domestic demand driven and
externally financed, hence was hampered significantly by the
global financial crisis and subsequent euro area debt
crisis. Despite modest post-crisis recovery, the region
continues to struggle with structural problems that
undermine economic growth. Prospects for the region remain
significantly dependent on external developments—but also
progress on structural reform agendas. Against this
backdrop, further financial deepening and improved financial
stability are essential to boosting sustainable growth. The
size and structure of the financial sector varies
considerably across the Western Balkan countries and is
primarily bank-based. In the near term, policymakers and
regulators in the region face a number of challenges with
regard to supporting economic growth, expanding financial
inclusion, and maintaining financial stability. Banking
regulation and oversight have improved over the last decade,
but a number of important shortcomings in some segments
remain. The book is arranged as follows: While the snapshot
in Chapter one focuses on near term challenges and policy
responses with regard to financial sector development and
stability, the following chapters look more broadly at the
external context and take a longer term view on challenges
and opportunities that could present themselves over the
next decade. It does so not by proposing a single forecast,
or view of the future, but by exploring key uncertainties
and applying the tool of scenario thinking to create three
different visions for the world around the Western Balkans
financial systems in 2025 aimed at informing the development
of financial sector strategies that contribute to the
country’s overall success in sustainable and inclusive growth. |
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