Europe > Latvia, Republic of

You are looking at 1 - 3 of 3 items for :

  • Type: Journal Issue x
  • Migration, immigration & emigration x
Clear All Modify Search
Mr. Ruben V Atoyan
,
Lone Engbo Christiansen
,
Allan Dizioli
,
Mr. Christian H Ebeke
,
Mr. Nadeem Ilahi
,
Ms. Anna Ilyina
,
Mr. Gil Mehrez
,
Mr. Haonan Qu
,
Ms. Faezeh Raei
,
Ms. Alaina P Rhee
, and
Ms. Daria V Zakharova
This paper analyses the impact of large and persistent emigration from Eastern European countries over the past 25 years on these countries’ growth and income convergence to advanced Europe. While emigration has likely benefited migrants themselves, the receiving countries and the EU as a whole, its impact on sending countries’ economies has been largely negative. The analysis suggests that labor outflows, particularly of skilled workers, lowered productivity growth, pushed up wages, and slowed growth and income convergence. At the same time, while remittance inflows supported financial deepening, consumption and investment in some countries, they also reduced incentives to work and led to exchange rate appreciations, eroding competiveness. The departure of the young also added to the fiscal pressures of already aging populations in Eastern Europe. The paper concludes with policy recommendations for sending countries to mitigate the negative impact of emigration on their economies, and the EU-wide initiatives that could support these efforts.
International Monetary Fund. European Dept.
This Selected Issues paper examines the prospects for Latvia continuing to rapidly reduce its distance from the productivity frontier. It looks at the empirical record of countries that have in the past attained a similar relative level of income to that of Latvia at present, to gauge the plausibility of the forecast for Latvia’s medium term GDP growth of about 4 percent per year. It highlights that more than one-third of the countries reaching a similar stage of development managed to sustain higher subsequent growth. The paper also confirms the importance of investment and structural reforms for Latvia’s future convergence, using a sector-level analysis.
International Monetary Fund
The external imbalances that accompanied Latvia’s integration into the global economy have generated mixed effects. Stabilizing net foreign liabilities will require an improvement in the goods and services balance. Outward migration from Latvia has raised concerns about social and economic stresses that could intensify in the near future if labor flow increases. Several steps have to be taken to mitigate any adverse consequences of outward migration. The purpose of this paper is to examine macroeconomic and prudential aspects of the rapid growth of lending in Latvia.