At the same time, countries running the fixed exchange rate regime suffered greater economic turbulences. For example, the Baltic countries Estonia and Lithuania had to resort to adjustments through wage reductions, ending the year with a 15% fall in GDP. As for Serbia, the flexible exchange rate regime also paved the way out of the crisis.
Today, national fiscal policies are subject to basic common rules as laid down in the Stability and Growth Pact. These rules, although constraining, are in fact a means of preserving a certain margin of manoeuvre in the Member States’ budgetary policies, while at the same time avoiding undue pressure being exerted on the single monetary policy.