This paper explains why sovereign issuers of reserve currencies do not use unexpected inflation to repudiate their foreign liabilities. Monetary restraint is exercised because of the fear that reserve users will switch to other currencies if an attempt is made to raise “excessive” revenue....

This paper sets out a framework for streamlined and strengthened procedures for the wider dissemination of technical assistance-related information ("TA Information"). On the basis of this framework, management intends to issue guidelines to the staff setting forth these new procedures

Forward-looking behavior on the part of the monetary authority leads least squares estimates to understate the true growth consequences of monetary policy interventions. We present instrumental variables estimates of the impact of interest rates on real output growth for several European...

The sharp increase in fiscal deficits and public debt in most advanced and several developing economies has raised concerns about the sustainability of public finances and highlighted the need for a significant adjustment over the medium term. This paper assesses the usefulness of fiscal rules...

This paper presents a brief survey of the empirical literature on survey-based exchange rate expectations. The literature in general supports the presence of a non-zero risk premium and rejects the hypothesis of rational expectations. The crucial result is that, while short-run expectations tend...

The staff report for the Second Review Under the Three-Year Arrangement Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility focuses on the Republic of Armenia’s economic environment and policy discussion. Financial sector reforms will focus on improving corporate governance, strengthening...

The analysis is structured around the standard taxonomy of transmission channels. A monetary tightening must limit banks' ability to supply loans by reducing bank reserves/bank credit. The direct interest rate channel is the strongest channel of the monetary policy transmission mechanism (MPTM),...

Honduras’s First Review Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility and Request for Waiver of Performance Criteria are discussed. The authorities are taking measures to contain inflation. The inflation target has been raised to accommodate the first-round impact of the oil price...

This study takes stock of the institutional reform of monetary policy in Latin America since the early 1990s. It argues that strengthening the legal independence of central banks, together with macroeconomic policies, was instrumental in reducing inflation from three-digit annual rates in the...

This Selected Issues paper and Statistical Appendix on Angola underlie monetary policy framework. Angola has adopted an anti-inflation policy that has led to a sharp decline in inflation. To institute a monetary policy framework, a nominal anchor or constraint on the value of domestic currency...