Publication overview

Transition report 1998: Financial sector in transition

Transition and volatility: a year of stresses and contrasts; Progress in market-oriented transition; Macroeconomic performance and prospects; Cross-border capital flows; Financial institutions and markets in transition economies; Legal foundations for sound finance; Performance of financial institutions: lessons from transition banking; Promoting the stable expansion of banking.

Major themes

• Transition and volatility: a year of stresses and contrasts. Highlights the contrasting developments across the region in response to the turbulent events of the past year.
• Progress in market-oriented transition.Focuses on the slow and inconsistent progress in 1998 in tackling the challenges of the next phase of the transition.
• Macroeconomic performance and prospects. Examines how the crisis in Russia is affecting economic performance in the rest of the region.
• Cross-border capital flows. Reveals that cross-border capital flows have increased sharply over the past three years, helping to realise the region's growth potential.

Special topic: Financial sector in transition

• Financial institutions and markets in transition economies. Examines how the region's financial systems, which remain underdeveloped, are likely to evolve.
• Legal foundations for sound finance. Provides the results of an EBRD survey on the extensiveness and effectiveness of financial law in transition economies.
• Performance of financial institutions: lessons from transition banking. Examines how well financial systems in the region are performing and identifies factors that can enhance this performance.
• Promoting the stable expansion of banking. Points to the importance of strengthening competition and private participation in enhancing the performance of the banking sector.

Transition assessments

To indicate the level of progress in the region, a two-page transition assessment is provided for each of the Bank's countries of operations. The analysis is divided into six broad categories: Liberalisation, Privatisation, Enterprises, Infrastructure, Financial institutions, and Fiscal and social sector.

The assessments also include a timeline of important historical events in the transition process and a data table indicating progress in each of the six areas indicated above.

Selected economic indicators

Country-by-country tables provide key economic data on output, employment, prices and wages, the government sector, the monetary sector, interest and exchange rates, and the external sector.