Russia’s fiscal package, Ukrainians leaving Poland

The three-step stimulus plan unveiled this week by Russia’s government comes late in the day. But it does suggest that policymakers are serious about the shift towards permanently looser fiscal policy that was first unveiled in January and it alleviates one of our concerns about the pace of the economic recovery over the rest of this year. Meanwhile, data released this week showed that Poland’s labour market has been hit by a sharp rise in the number of Ukrainian migrants leaving Poland. This is likely to cause a drop in remittance flows to Ukraine and a widening in the current account deficit, but IMF financing should limit strains in the balance of payments.