Exit Strategies From the Crisis on the Example of the Baltic States

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze the macroeconomic policy of the Baltic states in response to the financial crisis of the years 2007-2010. The considerations are based on the thesis that the general direction of the macroeconomic policy chosen by the analyzed countries is correct. The consistent maintaining of a fixed exchange rate during the crisis aroused much controversy and was criticized in the literature. In the study, particular attention was paid to the issues of exchange rate, which has constituted the key element of the policy, both in the initial period of transformation, as well as in the times of recession. The first part of the study concentrates on the specificities of small open economies of the Baltic countries and on the determinants of their monetary and exchange rate policy. Subsequently, the economic situation of the Baltic republics in the face of the crisis was characterized, indicating the main factors increasing their vulnerability to economic shocks. The next subject of the analysis was the macroeconomic policies in response to the deep recession. The considerations were intended to assess the validity of maintaining a fixed exchange rate policy as a core element of an anti-crisis strategy. The methods used in solving the scientific problem were the critical literature studies and the analysis of macroeconomic indicators.