CEE escapes worst of deleveraging dangers as deposits edge up

Fears of a lending drought in central and eastern Europe (CEE) were overblown, new data from the Bank for International Settlements shows. While bank retrenchment was likely to hit the region harder than other emerging markets as just four eurozone players — Erste, KBC, RBI and UniCredit — account for more than half of all its lending, deleveraging has not been as widespread or as rapid as feared.