Growth in the Central and Eastern European Countries of the European Union

Eight Central and Eastern European countries - the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia - have become members of the European Union (EU). The central challenge now facing these countries is to catch up to advanced EU income levels. This paper discusses the region's growth performance, outlines two growth scenarios that illustrate the range of investment and productivity growth rates under the income catch-up objective, and draws on extensive literature on empirical growth equations and cross-country growth analyses to identify strengths and weaknesses in the region. It also focuses on an important aspect of integration with Europe: the opportunity to supplement domestic savings with foreign savings intermediated through European financial markets.