Emerging Europe 'on verge of self-sufficiency'

The firm says Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the new EU member states, Turkey, plus Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Georgia have turned a corner in their economic performances. Most notable, says BlackRock, is increasing domestic consumerism in the region, with domestic demand playing an ever more important role in underpinning growth as the availability of consumer credit and mortgages rise. And Alain Bourrier and Plamen Monovski, managers of BlackRock’s Merrill Lynch International Investment Funds (MLIIF) Emerging Europe fund, say there has been a shift away from export...