o:29405 The impact of the exchange rate on the foreign trade imbalance during the economic crisis in the new EU member states and the Western Balkan countries en ABSTRACT This paper examines the relationship between the real exchange rate and the foreign trade imbalance in both the Western Balkan (WB) and Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. During the most recent global economic crisis, examining the impact of the exchange rate on the balance of trade took on a particular importance. Countries used a variety of monetary policy regimes and, depending on their choice, they had different economic instruments available to deal with the crisis. The aim of the research was whether exchange rate devaluation and/or depreciation are capable of effectively and fully eliminating the negative effects of the global economic crisis, as well as the consequent poor export performance and contracted economic activity. Our findings show that during an economic crisis those countries that use their own currency cannot substantially adjust their trade deficit by depreciating their currency. Moreover, it is suggested that during the global economic crisis, the balance of payments deficit is not impacted significantly by the exchange rate, any more. In such cases, other factors play a more significant role, like as government spending, followed by foreign demand and direct investments. KEYWORDS Exchange rate; Western Balkans; Central and Eastern Europe; balance of trade; economic crisis; budget deficit 1552099 10.1080/1331677X.2019.1708771 1552101 1331-677X 2023-05-12T13:19:47.682Z 44 no 46 Miloš Rajković Predrag Bjelić Univerzitet u Beogradu Ekonomski fakultet person 12871271 0000-0002-9777-8403 Danijela Jaćimović person Miroslav Verbič person application/pdf 2256596 https://phaidrabg.bg.ac.rs/o:29405 no yes 16 70 1552253 11A03 Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja 33 1 182 203 2020