An article in the famous US business journal Forbes on the overcoming of the economic crisis in Europe names the Baltic States the “triumph of good economic policy”. The Euro zone crisis has been compared to ‘repeating episodes of a bad soap opera’ where the only unchanging things are the distribution of help and hopeful scenarios
The Baltic States are said to have overtaken their European neighbours. The article suggests that while one might wonder which European nations will survive without help, the three Baltic States have performed ‘the art of economic reforms’. Fiscal balance ensures economic growth. This experience is a model for the rest of the continent and even further.
The article describes the economy of the Baltic States before the crisis, the severe economic crisis and the austerity measures which allowed the countries to avoid increasing the debt, and also the stabile economic growth during the recent years. Several lessons could be learned from the Baltic States, such as not getting into a huge debt, and not trying to boost economy with increasing expenses for it actually only increases the debt and does not foster growth in the long-term.
Heavy decisions should be taken quickly, fiscal accountability should be retained, the budget expenses should be decreased, and, what is more, laziness is not allowed since one can always do more.
However, even if Latvia has repaid the loan to the International Monetary Fund, it still owes to the European Commission and the World Bank hundreds of millions of Latvian lats.
Source: http://www.apollo.lv/zinas/forbes-baltiju-nodeve-par-labas-ekonomikas-politikas-triumfu/563244