16 YEARS OF THE EURO AREA – INCREASE OF GDP AND PAYMENT BALANCE (PRELIMINARY DATA ANALYSIS)

The paper makes an attempt at description of the impact of monetary integration on the most important macroeconomic indicators of the Euro area against the background of those countries which retained their national currency. As the main indicator describing changeability of economic growth in the EU countries the author assumed the average annual real GDP growth calculated in relation to the base value of GDP in 2003. The profile of payment balance (BPM5) of selected countries focuses on relations resulting from financing of trade turnover account balance by balance of the financial account and, particularly on direct and portfolio investments. The analysis was conducted in the context of basic relationships from the theory of the optimum payment area.