Marcus Wallenberg, chairman of the Swedish banking group SEB, sees little hope for the Baltic region in the near future and that the region may need economic support from the IMF.
In an interview with the Swiss newspaper Tagesanzeiger, Wallenberg said: “I think, these countries will get help from the Monetary Fund. They will take drastic economic and political steps to stem the economic decline. It is clear that this will show up in our bank balance sheet.”
SEB is one of the leading banks in the region, along with Nordic banking groups Swedbank, Danske Bank, DNB Nor and Nordea. However the precipitous decline of the region after years of economic growth will put the brakes on any future development by the Nordic banks in the region.
Latvia has already asked the Nordic region, along with the European Union and the IMF, for a USD10 billion bailout and is faced with double digit contractions in its economy for the rest of 2009.
Lithuania and Estonia deny needing economic aid, but are facing GDP contractions in the 10% region.
SEB has no plans to leave the region. “We will stay,” Wallenberg said. “The Baltics are somewhat like a home market to us. We have been present in every country for a while.”