Current Account convergence in the Western Balkans
by Sandra Hlivnjak; Nick Adnett
International Journal of Economic Policy in Emerging Economies (IJEPEE), Vol. 5, No. 1, 2012

Abstract: The Maastricht criteria with their focus on nominal and macroeconomic convergence are important conditions that Western Balkan (WB) countries have to comply with. A significant threat to convergence of these countries is their large and persistent Current Account (CA) deficits. In this paper, an assessment of CA sustainability in this region is conducted by refining the concept of a sustainable CA deficit through application of a stationary condition and mean reversion proposition. A stationary CA to Gross Domestic Product ratio is argued to be consistent with a finite external debt to GDP ratio. The rate of convergence of the CA rate to its steady state is estimated for each of the WB countries. We find that four of the five WB countries have met the minimum requirement for CA sustainability.

Online publication date: Sat, 15-Nov-2014

The full text of this article is only available to individual subscribers or to users at subscribing institutions.

 
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.

Pay per view:
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.

Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Economic Policy in Emerging Economies (IJEPEE):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:

Username:        Password:          Forgotten your password?

Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.

If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com