ECB President Mario Draghi said in a speech that “general slowdown is being felt in all economies in the region. The so called “central and eastern European (CEE) economies” model has become “vulnerable to shocks to international trade and financial conditions”.
He added that “global trade has faced headwinds in recent years as trade-restrictive measures have outpaced liberalizing measures.” CEE economies have been “disproportionately affected” by this for two reasons. Firstly, trade in CEE economies is “especially responsive cyclical developments”, with “trade elasticity” higher than the rest of EU. Secondly, they have “increasingly specialised in certain industries: which made the “more exposed to industry-specific shocks.”
