BALTIC SEA REPORT 2015: Geopolitical challenges require closer collaboration

Rättelse: Avsändare för detta utskick är Swedbank

  · Cooperate more to grow more

  · Income inequality and poverty: is a higher minimum wage the best answer?

  · Taxes in the Baltics: which way forward?

Russia is in the midst of a recession, while the rest of the Baltic Sea region
sees its economy expanding. The Baltic Sea index (BSI) points to somewhat closer
institutional integration within the region, excluding Russia, and marginal
improvements in competitiveness. Yet, developments are uneven, and the region’s
countries are in different stages of their business cycles, implying different
political and economic policy agendas. Politicians falling behind the curve in
addressing structural problems and reducing overheating risks, as well as an
unprecedented refugee influx, pose risks to growth and political stability. More
economic integration and policy cooperation – within the region, with the rest
of the EU, and globally – is necessary to reduce these risks and boost
sustainable medium-term growth.

For more information: Mārtiņš Kazāks, Swedbank Macro research tfn +371 6744 58
59, martins.kazaks@swedbank.lv