Balkan Economic Recovery Is at Risk From Greek Woes, Mirow Says

Bloomberg
April 21, 2011

The Balkans remains at risk from Greece’s sovereign debt crisis as the region’s recovery is weaker than elsewhere in eastern Europe, said European Bank for Reconstruction and Development President Thomas Mirow.

Greece, which asked the European Union and the International Monetary Fund for financial aid last year, is seeing its borrowing costs surge on investors’ concern that it may need to restructure its debt. Those concerns may impact banks operating in the Balkans and the EBRD, along with the IMF, will work to prevent the contagion, Mirow said.

For the rest of the Balkans, “I would say it is a potential risk and it needs to be mitigated and contained,” Mirow said in an interview in Kiev yesterday. “We have been quite active, especially in the regard to the financial sector, as subsidiaries of Greek banks play an important role in these countries.”

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