Raiffeisen: mid-European countries largely unscathed by credit crunch

Central Eastern European economies such as Russia are largely unaffected by the current credit crunc...

Central Eastern European economies such as Russia are largely unaffected by the current credit crunch, according to Raiffeisen Capital Management's Tibor Schindler. The group's chief strategist for emerging markets said although isolated companies in the region have been affected, wider economies have not and he believes growth potential is still firmly in place. In the case of Russia, he is estimating 7% real GDP growth for 2008, compared to 1% for the US and 1.9% for the 13 major EU economies. According to Schindler, drivers for Russia will continue to be the demand for its energy r...