Cross the border from Bulgaria into any of its five neighbouring states and you will find a country facing serious economic troubles. That is the nature of a global financial and economic crisis, one that is hitting South Eastern European to varying degrees, none gently.

On June 22, a World Bank report entitled Global Development Finance 2009: Charting a Global Recovery said that Central and Eastern Europe would see the sharpest contractions among all developing regions.

GDP in Central and Eastern Europe is expected to decline by 1.6 per cent in 2009 and remain stagnant through 2010 as economies in the region recover slowly from the crisis, Balkan Insight quoted the report as saying.

"The most vulnerable group of countries within the broader region, Central and Eastern Europe, received shocks through several channels simultaneously," it added.
Unemployment in Central and Eastern Europe rose at the same time in February/March by one percentage point over the average rate prevailing in the first half of 2008.

Pressures on the current account and financial distress have prompted several countries in Eastern Europe and the Balkans to seek aid from the IMF.
From Skopje, media reports quoted the country’s statistics office as saying that Macedonia’s GDP decreased by 0.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2009. This emerged along with reports that foreign direct investment in Macedonia had halved in the first part of the year compared to the same period of 2008.

Macedonia has seen downturns in the first part of 2009 in its mining, processing and energy sectors.
In Greece, the national statistical service said unemployment had increased to 9.3 per cent in Q1 2009, with the 15 to 29 age group making up the largest share, 18.5 per cent.

The Q1 unemployment figures in Greece were a three-year high, after joblessness was reported at 7.9 per cent in the last quarter of 2008. Aggravating unemployment was a slowdown in tourism, meaning fewer seasonal hirings in the hospitality industry.

Unemployment is expected to worsen, and the European Commission has said Greece could go into recession.
Romania agreed in March 2009 on a 12 billion euro loan from the International Monetary Fund after the domestic currency plunged 20 per cent against the euro over the past year.

Bucharest will in July get 1.5 billion euro from the EU as part of an assistance package arranged by the World Bank, IMF and EBRD.
The World Bank, like the European Commission, has forecast that Romania will shed four per cent of GDP by the end of this year. The IMF’s forecast is for a similar shrinkage, 4.1 per cent.

GDP decreased by 6.2 per cent in Q1 2009, according to official state statistics. The most recent jobless statistics for Romania, dating from May, recorded 5.8 per cent, a slight increase over April.

Serbia agreed in May 2009 on a 382 million euro standby agreement with the IMF, promising reforms in exchange for help in trying to keep confidence in its economy and seeking to safeguard it from global economic woes.

From Belgrade, news agency Tanjug reported Serbia’s deputy prime minister and economy minister Mladjan Dinkic as saying on June 22 that the country would not cut salaries and pensions and would not increase value-added tax but would decrease the number of state employees.

Serbian central bank Governor Radovan Jelasic said on June 20, according to a Reuters report, that the country’s banking system had ridden the storm well, and had not taken any money in state aid, but Serbia’s economy would take years to recover.

Turkey’s economy is forecast by the World Bank to shrink 5.5 per cent by the end of 2009 but would grow by 1.5 per cent next year and three per cent in 2011.
In recession and facing concerns about its worsening current account gap, Turkey continues to be in talks with the IMF. Unemployment is also worsening, and estimates are that the economy shrunk about 10 per cent in Q1 2009, after declining 6.2 per cent in Q4 2008.