CAPITAL FLOWS AND THEIR SECTORAL DESTINATIONS

Since 2003, New European Union Member States have made large capital inflows, which led to a credit crunch and recession. Whether they are foreign direct investment, or banking flows, capital inflows ultimately affect GDP, depending on how they are invested. In the specialty literature, analysis of capital flows was done especially in terms of their structure, with a lack of analysis in terms of final destination of capital inflows. Therefore, we analyzed the effect of capital inflows on GDP in the New Member States of the European Union (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia) over the last economic cycle. Based on experiences of the new Member States during the recent boom and crisis, the paper studies the impact of capital inflows on GDP growth, inflows channeled to economic sectors, such as real estate and corporate investment sector. The results of this research tries to highlight the extent to which the final destination of capital flows is important for the evolution of GDP.