State of Baltic economies not critical, Credit Suisse vice-president believes

As the BNS reported the economies of the Baltic countries are heating, although the situation is not critical, Darius Daubaras, vice-president of Credit Suisse investment bank, has said in an interview to the Lithuanian business daily Verslo Zinios.

“The inflation level now is truly high, in Latvia the inflation has even reached double-digit levels. It is rather difficult to tame such a devaluation of money since Lithuania has no monetary policy of its own. However, there is no critical overheating although the inflation is a concern,” Daubaras said.

The situation in the Baltic real estate sector was somewhat poorer although it would not affect the overall economy, he added.

“As far as fundamentals are concerned, the economic development continues. So I do not think now that the Baltic countries are heading for the hard landing scenario”, the banker said. However, it was not as yet possible to predict the scale of crisis on the global credit market and its effects on the economies of the region, he added.

In case of soft landing, the slowdown of Baltic economies would last for about a year, Daubaras projected.

In his opinion, foreign investors would now focus on the Baltic retail market, including services, healthcare and retail trade.

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