Upon entry into the European Union, countries become members of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), with a derogation from adopting the euro as their currency (that is, each country joining the EU commits to replace its national currency with the euro, but can choose when to request...

Europe's high pre-existing level of financial development can partly account for the relatively smaller reach of fintech payment and lending activities compared to some other regions. But fintech activity is growing rapidly. Digital payment schemes are expanding within countries, although...

This 2014 Article IV Consultation highlights that Maldives' real economy has picked up. Growth is estimated to have reached 5 percent in 2014 with stronger tourism activity driven by a rapid expansion from Asian markets and a tepid recovery from Europe. The IMF staff expects growth to be about 5...

The effects on growth of the integration of an autarkic country into the world economy are analyzed, focusing on the differing roles of imitation and innovation in human capital accumulation. The country initially concentrates on imitation of foreign knowledge; subsequently, as it approaches the...

Large inflows from the European Union to the New Member States are likely to significantly impact macroeconomic outcomes. In this paper, we use the IMF's Global Integrated Monetary and Fiscal model (GIMF) to analyze the impact of the transfers and show the conditions under which they would help...