Eastern European economies to shrink

The European Commission forecast economic contractions of more than 10% in the worst-hit Baltic states and said the region's biggest economy, Poland, would shrink 1.4%, a sharp contrast to Warsaw's own forecasts of modest growth. The Czech Republic and Bulgaria are also forecast to experience a relatively small contraction, compared with the euro zone's expected 4.0% this year. "Compared with other countries in the region this is a relatively mild recession thanks, among other factors, to the lower share of trade in GDP," the Commission said of Poland, which accounts for about half of the region's output, according to guardian.co.uk. For the Baltics, Estonia was seen contracting 10.3% this year, Lithuania by 11% and Latvia by 13.1%. The economies will also shrink in 2010, although much less.