Word: eastern
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...acting could end up costing Western capitals more than helping out. That's because Western banks have huge exposure to emerging European economies, either directly or through local subsidiaries. Austrian banks alone have a more than $293 billion exposure to Eastern Europe, roughly 80% of the Austrian GDP. When, on February 17, rating agency Moody's warned that it might downgrade a number of western European banks with exposure to the region, the euro plunged to a three month low of $1.26 against the dollar. "Given the combination of banking and trade links between Eastern and Western Europe that have...
...downturn is playing havoc with Eastern Europe's currencies. Since last summer, the Polish zloty has lost 48% against Europe's common currency the euro, the Hungarian forint 30% and the Czech Krona 23%. That makes euro-denominated debt, which has risen dramatically anyway in the past few years, much harder to pay back. In Poland, foreign currency debt held by households has tripled in three years to 12% of the GDP last year, with some 70% of mortgages taken in foreign currencies. In Hungary, foreign currency loans make up 62% of all household debt, up from 33% three years...
...which has already provided $39 billion in emergency loans to shore up Eastern European economies, is discussing a regional bailout package. But the Fund is also struggling; with access to $200 billion in funds, its ability to step in is limited. "So far we've seen disappointing tendencies on the part of Western European governments moving in a more protectionist direction, which is worrying," says Christensen. "But the pressure is increasing on policy makers to find some kind of solution...
...ancient hills of Lebanon hold little charm for Abdullah Sulhani and his family. Though they live just a bus ride away from some of the most pleasant countryside on the eastern Mediterranean, they don't dare go out for a picnic or family day trip. This is an exaggerated reading of the risks of living in Lebanon - a turbulent country no doubt, but one which, when not a war zone, is the vacation destination of choice for the Arab world. Sulhani, 85, is Palestinian, though, and his family lives in Shatila, an impoverished refugee camp on the edge of Beirut...
Sirens breaking the silence of the night, cars engulfed by meter-high flames. This is not a scene from the banlieues of Paris, but from the trendy Eastern Berlin district of Prenzlauer Berg, where in recent weeks an ongoing battle against gentrification has intensified. In the past two months alone, 29 cars - mostly luxury brands like Mercedes, BMW and Porsche - have been set ablaze in Berlin (police believe left-wing extremists are to blame). In a letter published online in January, a leftist radical group called BMW (Bewegung für militanten Widerstand, or Movement for Militant Resistance) admitted...