Eastern Europe: the sick man of the developing world

Emerging markets have bounced back sharply as global risk appetite has recovered. But Eastern Europe still faces an uphill struggle.

Emerging markets have bounced back sharply as global risk appetite has recovered and eastern Europe has been no exception. The MSCI regional index has almost doubled from its low earlier this year. The long-term outlook remains compelling. Eastern Europe has a long way to go to catch up with western European wealth levels, while in Russia there are still just 40 supermarkets per one million people, compared to 180 in the West, as Elena Shaftan of the Jupiter Emerging Europe fund points out. But for now, the region faces an uphill struggle.

How it got into trouble

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