November 21 (SeeNews) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said it expects economic growth in Southeastern Europe (SEE) to accelerate modestly in 2014, in line with a slightly improved external environment.
“The recovery is expected to gain momentum slowly in most CEB and SEE countries, with only Slovenia remaining in recession,” the EBRD said in its Transition Report 2013.
The most significant risk to growth in central Europe and the Baltic states (CEB) and SEE remains a return to crisis in the eurozone, according to the bank.
In 2013 the international lender expects that the majority of CEB, SEE and eastern Europe and the Caucasus (EEC) countries will record weak growth, below 2.0%.
At the sector level, reform reversals and increasing government interference in the energy sector are reinforcing the negative trends of recent years, in particular in central and south-eastern Europe, the EBRD also said.
However, financial sector reforms enacted in the wake of the 2008-09 crisis have proven more resilient, it added.