World Bank2014-02-112014-02-112013-12-09https://hdl.handle.net/10986/17000The South East Europe (SEE6) region exited from recession in the first half of 2013, supported by a nascent recovery in the Euro area. Industry-especially manufacturing exports and energy drove the recovery. The region experienced a welcome surge in exports in 2013, particularly car exports from Serbia. Unemployment in the region, at about 24 percent on average, began to decline in the first half of 2013 from its peak crisis levels. While employment grew in Albania, FYR Macedonia and Montenegro, it remained depressed in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Unemployment in the region, at about 24 percent on average, began to decline in the first half of 2013 from its peak crisis levels. While employment grew in Albania, FYR Macedonia and Montenegro, it remained depressed in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. But even where employment has recovered meaningfully since 2010, the gains were not broad-based and mostly concentrated in services Near-term economic growth will be too weak to support substantial gains in employment. Weak domestic demand depressed imports in all countries but Serbia, where their rise was led by raw materials and parts used in export-oriented industries. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) remained sluggish in SEE6, rising only by 0.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), but its share of financing of the current account increased. Remittances continued to be resilient overall, but the Greek crisis began to take its toll, especially on Albania. Foreign banks' deleveraging from SEE6, rising Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) and weak credit growth underpinned the need for vigorous reforms to reduce vulnerabilities in the financial sector. European banks continued to deleverage and reduced their exposure to the SEE6 region. With the aim of improving their resilience and supervisory capacity, the SEE6 countries made some progress in implementing banking reforms over the past year.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACCOUNTABILITYACCOUNTINGACCOUNTING STANDARDSAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTSANNUAL GROWTHARREARSARREARS ACCUMULATIONASSET MANAGEMENTASSET MANAGEMENT COMPANIESASSET PRICESASSET QUALITYBAD DEBTBALANCE SHEETBALANCE SHEETSBANK BALANCE SHEETBANK FOR INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENTSBANK LENDINGBANK OF GREECEBANK PORTFOLIOSBANK PROFITABILITYBANKING SYSTEMBANKING SYSTEMSBANKRUPTCYBASIS POINTSBIDBILLBONDBOND FINANCINGBOND ISSUANCESBORROWINGBORROWING COSTSBROAD MONEYBUFFERSCAPITAL ADEQUACYCAPITAL FLOWSCAPITAL INFLOWSCAPITAL MARKETSCDSCENTRAL BANKCENTRAL BANKSCHAMBER OF COMMERCECLARITYCOLLATERALCOMPETITIVENESSCONSOLIDATIONCONTINGENCY PLANNINGCORPORATE DEBTCORPORATE INSOLVENCYCREDIT DEFAULTCREDIT DEFAULT SWAPCREDIT DEFAULT SWAPSCREDIT GROWTHCREDIT RATINGCREDIT RATINGSCREDIT UNDERWRITINGCREDITORSCURRENCYCURRENCY BOARDCURRENT ACCOUNTCURRENT ACCOUNT BALANCECURRENT ACCOUNT BALANCESCURRENT ACCOUNT DEFICITCURRENT ACCOUNT DEFICITSDEBTDEBT LEVELSDEBT RESTRUCTURINGDEBT STOCKDEPOSITDEPOSITSDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDEVELOPING COUNTRYDISINFLATIONDISPUTE RESOLUTIONDOMESTIC CONSUMPTIONDOMESTIC CURRENCIESDOMESTIC DEMANDDURABLEECONOMIC ACTIVITYECONOMIC CONDITIONSECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTSECONOMIC GROWTHEMERGING MARKETEMERGING MARKET ECONOMIESEMPLOYMENTENFORCEMENT PROCEDURESEQUITY MARKETSEXCHANGE ARRANGEMENTSEXPENDITUREEXPORT CAPACITYEXPORT GROWTHEXPORT PERFORMANCEEXTERNAL DEBTEXTERNAL DEFICITEXTERNAL DEMANDEXTERNAL FINANCINGEXTERNAL POSITIONFACTORINGFINANCIAL CRISISFINANCIAL FLOWSFINANCIAL RESTRUCTURINGFINANCIAL SYSTEMFISCAL BALANCEFISCAL BALANCESFISCAL DEFICITFISCAL DEFICITSFISCAL DISCIPLINEFISCAL IMBALANCESFISCAL POSITIONSFLEXIBLE EXCHANGE RATESFOOD PRICEFOOD PRICESFORECLOSUREFOREIGN BANKSFOREIGN CURRENCIESFOREIGN CURRENCYFOREIGN CURRENCY EXPOSUREFOREIGN CURRENCY LENDINGFOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTGLOBAL CAPITALGOVERNMENT DEBTGROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCTGROWTH RATEGROWTH RATESHIGH-INCOME COUNTRIESHOUSEHOLD DEBTHOUSEHOLD INCOMESHOUSEHOLDSIMPORTIMPORT DEMANDIMPORTSINFLATIONINFLATIONARY PRESSURESINFORMAL ECONOMYINTEREST RATESINTERNATIONAL BANKINTERNATIONAL MARKETINVESTMENT CLIMATELABOR COSTSLABOR FORCELABOR FORCE SURVEYLABOR FORCE SURVEYSLABOR MARKETLABOR MARKETSLACK OF AWARENESSLEGAL TENDERLEGISLATIONLIQUIDATIONLIQUIDITYLIQUIDITY RATIOLOANLOAN PORTFOLIOLOAN QUALITYLOAN-TO-DEPOSIT RATIOLOAN-TO-DEPOSIT RATIOSLOCAL CURRENCYLONDON CLUBLONG- TERM COSTMACROECONOMIC INDICATORSMACROECONOMIC STABILITYMARKET CONDITIONSMINISTRIES OF FINANCEMONETARY AGGREGATESMONETARY POLICYMONEY SUPPLYMORTGAGESNON-PERFORMING LOANSNOTARYNPLOUTPUT GAPSOUTTURNSOVERDUE LOANSPEGSPENSIONSPORTFOLIO INVESTMENTSPOVERTY REDUCTIONPRICE INFLATIONPRIVATE CONSUMPTIONPRIVATE CREDITPRIVATE DEBTPRIVATE INVESTMENTPROBLEM LOANSPRODUCTIVITYPROFITABILITYPROPERTY RIGHTSPUBLIC DEBTPUBLIC DEBTSPUBLIC EXPENDITUREPUBLIC EXPENDITURESPUBLIC INVESTMENTREAL PROPERTYREAL SECTORREAL WAGE GROWTHRECESSIONREGULATORY AUTHORITIESREMITTANCESRESERVESRETURNRETURN ON ASSETSRISK AVERSIONSHORTFALLSSLACKSLOWDOWNSOVEREIGN BONDSPARE CAPACITYSTATE GUARANTEESSTRUCTURAL REFORMSSTRUCTURAL RIGIDITIESSUBSIDIARIESSUBSIDIARYSYSTEMIC CRISISTARIFF BARRIERSTAXTAX ADMINISTRATIONTAX COLLECTIONSTAX HIKESTAX LAWSTAXATIONTECHNICAL ASSISTANCETOTAL EXTERNAL DEBTTRADE BALANCETRADE BALANCESTRADE FLOWSTRADE LIBERALIZATIONTRADE REGIMETRADINGTRANSPARENCYTRANSPORTUNCERTAINTYUNEMPLOYMENTUNEMPLOYMENT RATEUNEMPLOYMENT RATESUNIONWAGES10.1596/17000