Banking Sector Development in Central and Eastern Europe

The countries of central and eastern Europe abandoned the socialist system and began the transition to capitalism to promote rapid growth and the ultimate convergence with the west.

Nowhere has the need for institutional reform been as great as in the financial sector.

This report assesses banking developments in this region and identifies the critical policy choices that will determine whether a country is to follow a high growth path leading to convergence with the mainstream of Western Europe.

The authors are Ronald W. Anderson, Universit Catholique de Louvain and CEPR; Erik Berglf, ECARE, Universit Libre de Bruxelles, and CEPR; and Klmn Mizsei, Hungarian Export-Import Bank Ltd and Hungarian Export Credit Insurance Ltd.

The editors are Lorand Ambrus-Lakatos, Central European University, Budapest, and CEPR, and Mark E.

Schaffer, Heriot-Watt University.