Updates the Board on progress in the WTO negotiations under the Doha Development Agenda in the run-up to the Hong Kong SAR Ministerial in December, and presents proposals on aid for trade to be submitted to the Development Committee and International Monetary and Finance Committee in September...

This paper summarizes recent developments in the Doha Round negotiations, and aid for trade. As requested by the Development Committee last September, it reviews existing mechanisms for cross-country and regional aid for trade needs. It proposes possible options to overcome the coordination and...

At their 2005 Spring meetings, the Development Committee and IMFC called on the Bank and Fund to work with others to develop more detailed proposals, for consideration at the Annual Meetings, to help developing countries adjust to and take advantage of the Doha Round. In response, Bank and Fund...

This paper considers the problem of allocation of investment for a debtor country that faces a ceiling on the amount of foreign debt it can accumulate. It shows that it is optimal for the debtor country to create a more open economy by favoring investment in the export sector over investment in...

Multilateral Consultations are a new tool of multilateral surveillance for the IMF, designed to foster action-oriented debate and policy actions on a problem of systemic or regional importance. The first multilateral consultation focused on facilitating the resolution of global imbalances while...

The 2005 Article IV Consultation for the United States reports that robust productivity growth and high corporate profits have contributed to a strong rebound in business investment and some acceleration in employment. The financial sector appears well positioned to provide continued support to...

This paper discusses the estimation of models of the term structure of interest rates. After reviewing the term structure models, specifically the Nelson-Siegel Model and Affine Term- Structure Model, this paper estimates the terms structure of Treasury bond yields for the United States with...