Still, important lessons can be drawn from crosscountry comparisons. The presentations and discussion in the seminar will focus on four main themes: (1) repairing balance sheets in the financial system and the corporate and household sectors; (2) the role of foreign banks in fostering credit growth; (3) best practices for reviving credit markets and the pitfalls; and (4) risks of a new financial crisis.
I will now briefly touch on these themes in general terms. How the situation has changed! Not that long ago, policymakers in Central and Eastern Europe were concerned about the issue of rapid credit growth. A key question then was whether rapid credit growth should be seen as an endless boom or as an early warning.