THE IMPACT OF FINANCIAL CRISIS ON THE BALTIC STATES

Finančne krize so vedno bile in bodo normalen pojav, ki ima svoje mesto v ciklični dinamiki gospodarstva. Krize in kolapsi nastanejo večinoma zaradi človeškega delovanja, razen če so posledica naravnih katastrof. Tako je bilo tudi pri sedanji krizi, ki se je iz nepremičninske krize v ZDA spremenila v globalno finančno krizo, katere razsežnosti so vidne v vseh državah sveta. Težko obdobje zahteva učinkovite ukrepe tako na finančni kot makroekonomski ravni. Posebej hudo je finančna kriza prizadela baltske države. Estonija, Latvija in Litva so tri majhna gospodarstva, ki so v samo nekaj letih iz bivših sovjetskih republik postale ene izmed najrazvitejših držav bivšega komunističnega bloka. So članice EU in Nata in so dosegle visoko stopnjo razvitosti, predvsem zaradi odprtosti njihovih gospodarstev in pritoka tujega kapitala. Vendar jih je trenutna finančna kriza zelo prizadela. Razmere na globalnih trgih so privedle do hudega padca ekonomskih aktivnosti, saj se je močno zmanjšal pritok tujega kapitala. Gospodarska rast je postala negativna, brezposelnost pa zelo visoka, zato se kriza najhuje kaže v zmanjšanju standarda. Ubadajo se tudi z javnofinančnimi težavami in težavami z likvidnostjo. Baltske države so zato sprejele zelo veliko protikriznih ukrepov, od zmanjšanja stroškov do dviga davkov, ki pa zaenkrat še ne kažejo pravih učinkov oz. so krizo malenkost omilili. Države morajo še veliko postoriti, da bodo spet zabeležile rast in postale bolj konkurenčne. Napovedi za leto 2011 so sicer bolj spodbudne, poleg tega naj bi že beležili skromno rast. Vendar so baltske države kot majhne odprte ekonomije zelo odvisne od tujih trgov, zato je razplet krize močno odvisen od dogajanja po svetu.Financial crises have always been a natural phenomenon which had its place in cyclical dynamics of economy. Crises and collapses mostly derive from human activity unless they are a consequence of natural disasters. This was also the case in the current crisis which began as the USA real-estate crisis and turned into a global financial crisis with consequences all around the world. Difficult circumstances require effective measures on financial and macroeconomic level. Baltic countries have been hit by the financial crisis especially hard. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are three small economies which in just a couple of years became one of the most developed countries of the ex communist block. The aforementioned countries are member states of the EU and NATO and reached a very high level of economic development mostly due to their open economies and foreign capital inflows. But these countries have been hit hard by the current financial crisis. Global market circumstances led to a sharp fall in economic activity due to decreased foreign capital inflows. Economic growth turned negative and unemployment rate rose. Therefore the crisis is experienced mostly in a decreased living standard. Public finance and liquidity issues are a mayor concern as well. Baltic countries have therefore adopted a great number of anti-crisis measures including cost cuts and tax increases. These measures have still not demonstrated significant results and have just mildly softened the crisis. A lot has to be done to achieve economic growth and competitiveness. 2011 forecast are encouraging and a mild economic growth is expected. However, as Baltic countries are small economies, they are dependent on foreign markets. Therefore the final outcome depends on global circumstances to the great extent