Adjustment in euro area deficit countries : progress, challenges, and policies / prepared by Thierry Tressel, Shengzu Wang, Joong Shik Kang, and Jay Shambaugh, directed by Jörg Decressin and Petya Koeva Brooks
Published
Washington, D.C. : International Monetary Fund, European Department and Research Department, 2014
"Imbalances within the euro area have been a defining feature of the crisis. Since the start of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), several euro area 'deficit' economies have accumulated large net foreign liabilities (NFLs) on the back of domestic demand booms and large capital inflows. These included Greece, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain. When the crisis hit, capital inflows stopped, and liquidity dried up. The deficit economies suffered deep recessions and very large increases in unemployment rates. The primitive forces that caused external imbalances have partly been reined in, including scaled-back expectations about future productivity growth and related capital flows and reduced implicit guarantees owing to financial sector reforms and policy actions, including debt restructuring."--Executive summary