There are few areas of economic policy-making in which the returns to good decisions are so high-and the punishment of bad decisions so cruel-as in the management of natural resource wealth. Rich endowments of oil, gas and minerals have set some countries on courses of sustained and robust...

This paper studies the effects of demand and supply shocks in the global crude oil market on several measures of countries'' external balance, including the oil and non-oil trade balances, the current account, and changes in net foreign assets (NFA) during 1975-2004. We explicitly take a global...

This paper highlights the state of Public Finances Cross-Country Fiscal Monitor. This edition of the Cross-Country Fiscal Monitor provides an update of global fiscal developments and policy strategies, based on projections from the November 2009 WEO. These projections reflect the assessment of...

The papers published in this volume are based on an IMF seminar held in 2000 that covered a broad range of topics on monetary and financial law, such as the liberalization of capital movements, data dissemination, responsibilities of central banks, and the IMF’s goals in financial surveillance...

With a modest recovery in the global economy underway, and amid rising concerns about the sharp increase in government debt in several countries, debate has increasingly focused on the need to identify and implement fiscal exit strategies. This paper reviews the medium-term plans of 25 countries...

The papers published in this volume are based on an IMF seminar held in 1988 covering a broad range of topics dealing with monetary and financial law. Topics presented at the seminar focused on the liberalization of capital movements, data dissemination, the IMF's goals in financial surveillance...

The IMF's 2009 Annual Report chronicles the response of the Fund's Executive Board and staff to the global financial crisis and other events during financial year 2009, which covers the period from May 1, 2008, through April 30, 2009. The print version of the Report is available in eight...