A powerful tool to achieve equitable development is promotion of economic empowerment for marginalized citizens by increasing formal financial services access and utilization. The provision of these services via mobile phones has shown great promise in overcoming geographic, demographic, and...

East Asia has returned to a position of relative financial stability and modest economic growth seven years since the onset of the East Asian financial crisis, but the long-range impact of the crisis is still unclear, especially regarding potential fiscal ramifications. The pre-crisis and...

East Asia has returned to a position of relative financial stability and modest economic growth seven years since the onset of the East Asian financial crisis, but the long-range impact of the crisis is still unclear, especially regarding fiscal ramifications. Thailand and Indonesia were two of...

This report documented the importance of housing in the economy while at the same time providing governments with guidelines on how best to design policy to create efficient housing markets. The purpose of this book is to provide fact-based information and guidance to policy makers concerned...

The topic of Government Sponsored Enterprise (GSE) privatization is at least two decades old. In the early 1980s, HUD studied the feasibility of privatizing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In 1986, Freddie Mac's Advisory Committee (the pre-cursor to its Board of Directors) discussed the subject. In...

Despite its recognized economic and social importance, housing finance often remains underdeveloped in emerging economies. Residential lending remains small, poorly accessible, and depository-based. Lenders remain vulnerable to significant credit, liquidity, and interest rate risks. As a result,...

Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) are government-chartered, special purpose corporations. They have been created to advance foster funding in a number of areas including housing, education and agriculture. Over the past 2 decades, the privatization has been proposed. There are many...

Despite its recognized economic and social importance, housing finance often remains underdeveloped in emerging economies. Residential lending remains small, poorly accessible, and depository-based. Lenders remain vulnerable to significant credit, liquidity, and interest rate risks. As a result,...