This paper describes a financial system that should be adopted for the 21st century. The paper highlights that the financial crisis of 2008 has raised fundamental questions about how the financial industry is structured, managed, and regulated. The paper discusses that a well-functioning...

This Selected Issues paper highlights that progress on structural reforms in Nepal stalled during 1994/95 while economic performance deteriorated. Real GDP slowed as agriculture output was depressed by a less favorable monsoon, and exports declined as both the carpet and garment sectors...

Over the past several years, Nepal has pursued a prudent fiscal policy, which has resulted in a significant reduction of public debt as a percentage of GDP. This paper reexamines the fiscal stance in Nepal in light of recent developments. The optimal level of the fiscal deficit is constrained by...

The rapid growth of the financial system presents a number of challenges to maintaining financial stability in Nepal. There has been a rapid growth of the banking sector over the last few years. State-owned institutions continue to dominate the banking system. Equity market capitalization has...

In recent years, the IMF has released a growing number of reports and other documents covering economic and financial developments and trends in member countries. Each report, prepared by a staff team after discussions with government officials, is published at the option of the member country

The sensitivity of secondary sovereign loan market returns to three classes of economic news is estimated in the arbitrage pricing theory framework. Returns are characterized by a limited response to unexpected changes in procyclical U.S. aggregates. Shocks to country-specific balance of payment...