Download or read book Early Birds, Late Risers, and Sleeping Beauties written by Ivanna Vladkova Hollar and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2003-11-01 with total page 66 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following a period of privatization and restructuring, commercial banks in Central and Eastern Europe and, more recently, in the Balkans have rapidly expanded their lending to the private sector. This paper describes the causes of this expansion, assesses future trends, and evaluates its policy implications. It concludes that bank credit to the private sector is likely to continue rising faster than GDP in the next few years throughout the region, picking up also in countries where so far it has been stalled. Although this growth should be regarded as a structural and positive development, policymakers will have to evaluate carefully its implications for macroeconomic developments and financial stability.