NYTIMES/JACK EWING/ The bad loans Austrian banks made to Eastern Europe are rising but at a slower pace than months ago with profits down. Banking there may entail years of slow growth. Disaster was only averted because the IMF and the EU rescued Hungary, Romania and Latvia, and foreign banks agreed not to desert the region. “Deflating a credit bubble will take years,” said economic forecaster Marie Diron. “There is no painless way out.”
