In this paper, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have drawn together available research findings on the benefits of trade liberalization as well as on the obstacles to trade-oriented development

This paper examines the construction of the index and its use over the past seven years, identifies its limitations, examines several alternative measures of trade policy, and highlights some options for improving the Fund's use of trade policy indicators

This paper notifies the Executive Board of a pilot exercise for fiscal safeguards. The pilot will be conducted by the Fiscal Affairs Department and will cover a limited number of large budget financing cases over the next twelve months. Contrary to the existing safeguards assessment for central...

This paper shows that the presence of quotas on imported inputs that are based on installed capacity can lead to capacity underutilization in manufacturing industries of developing countries. A replacement of such quotas, by tariffs leads to full capacity utilization under assumptions of both...

The study reveals agricultural import restrictions are widely applied in Asia, but that Japan and Korea impose lower average tariffs and nontariff barriers with less frequency than most Asian countries. It also finds several low and middle-income countries enforce relatively low protection for...

Efforts to liberalize world trade are increasingly focusing on strengthening the links between low-income countries’ trade policies and their development strategies. However, although greater trade openness promises faster growth for poor countries, it also presents risks to those with...

This 2003 Article IV Consultation highlights that despite significant slowdowns in activity in some major overseas markets, New Zealand has maintained a strong pace of economic growth over the past three years. The economy’s performance reflected its enhanced flexibility, stemming from...

Australia's economy has continued to perform remarkably well, despite encountering major adverse shocks. Fiscal policy, with an objective of maintaining a balanced budget, will help support the economy. Maintaining a sound and stable macroeconomic environment is essential. Reforms of the...

This Selected Issues paper for Australia highlights the dynamics of the Australian real exchange rate and its impact on Australia’s trade. The main findings are that the Australian real exchange rate is largely driven by world commodity prices and that it adjusts relatively rapidly to...

Despite repeated shocks, the United States economy has provided valuable support for global growth. Executive Directors commended this development, and stressed the need to tighten fiscal and monetary policies. They welcomed the assessment of the fiscal transparency Reports on Observance of...