This paper reviews key areas of central banking reform in a sample of centrally planned economies undergoing transition to market-based systems. The discussion draws mainly on the experiences of four countries, Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and China. Significant efforts have been made, or...

This paper is based on an internal report prepared by the IMF staff in connection with the application of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic (Czechoslovakia) for membership in the IMF. The paper surveys the economic system that had developed up to the time of the reforms begun in 1987 and...

The paper discusses the interrelationships between payments system reform and monetary policy implementation in selected countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The reforms in the payments system are viewed as closely interrelated with the development of money and foreign exchange markets and...

This Selected Issues paper for Hungary highlights the monetary policy framework in Hungary and the models used by the central bank (MNB). The MNB’s Quarterly Projection Model combines neo-Keynesian features in the short term with neoclassical features in the long term. It is a two-sector...

The Article IV Consultation highlights the financial system risks that have increased reflecting both the global financial market turbulence and continued rapid credit growth in Hungary. With most new borrowing in foreign currency, the private sector’s net foreign currency liabilities...

Hungary’s 2007 Article IV Consultation reports that with fiscal consolidation on track for 2007 and 2008, short-term risks have receded, especially owing to the favorable international financial environment. Ensuring that the current economic slowdown does not translate into a prolonged period...

This Selected Issues paper on Hungary reports that the public enterprises may pose significant fiscal risks on account of their quasi-fiscal activities and contingent liabilities. More than 85 percent of the economy is in private hands. According to the Privatization Act, assets may remain in...

The principal policy task in Hungary is to place public finances on a sound footing. For monetary policy, the challenge is to identify one-off inflationary influences, communicate these to the public and financial markets, and deal with second-round effects. From a risk-management perspective, a...