"Financial Cycles and the Real Economy: Lessons for CESEE"

The Conference on European Economic Integration (CEEI) 2013 of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB) will be held on November 18 and 19, 2013, at the Vienna Marriott Hotel. The conference, entitled “Financial Cycles and the Real Economy: Lessons for CESEE,” investigates the links between financial sector developments and the real economy. In particular, it examines to what extent the heterogeneous recovery paths of countries in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe (CESEE) reflect both differences in the pattern of their financial cycles prior to the crisis and varying policy responses.

At the conference, internationally renowned speakers will discuss the following questions: How to diagnose and deal with financial booms and the related risks of financial stress? How to assess the sustainability of financial deepening and thus the sustainable level of economic output? What considerations should guide policy reactions to downturns in the financial cycle? And, finally, what are the related challenges for Austrian banks and entrepreneurs?

The CEEI 2013 will be chaired by OeNB Governor Ewald Nowotny. In addition to Jörg Asmussen, Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank, who will deliver the dinner speech on the first conference day, a number of high-level CESEE central bank representatives will contribute to the conference: President Marek Belka (Poland), Governor Boštjan Jazbec (Slovenia), Vicegovernor Vedran Šošić(Croatia) and Member of the Board Eva Zamrazilová (Czech Republic). Claudio Borio (Bank for International Settlements) and Claudia M. Buch (Halle Institute for Economic Research and German Council of Economic Experts) will deliver keynote lectures.

For further information on topics and speakers, see the attached conference program or visit www.oenb.at.