This review of Phase I of the technical assistance (TA) General Data Dissemination System (GDDS) project (2001-2006) for 15 Anglophone African countries1-funded by the U.K. Department for International Development (DFID) and executed jointly by the Fund and the World Bank-(henceforth, referred...

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...

Investigates the macroeconomic challenges for low-income countries created by a surge in aid inflows. It develops an analytical framework for examining possible policy responses to increased aid, and then applies this framework to the experience of five relatively well-governed countries that...

This Selected Issues paper covers three topics of particular relevance to Mauritania: export competitiveness and exchange rate policy, the monetary policy framework, and the transfer of government deposits from commercial banks to the central bank. The paper reports on the recent economic...

This paper provides an overview of the likely impact of the creation of the European Community (EC) internal market on the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members. The focus is on the four freedoms and the institutional and legal changes required for increased economic cooperation between...

This paper analyzes the implications of growing international economic integration for the conduct of structural policy. Section I points out that the internationalization of financial intermediation has raised the welfare costs associated with domestic distortions. The growing importance of...

This paper evaluates the effect of foreign debt on investment in a heavily-indebted country, using numerical simulations of a simple rational expectations growth model. Two particular effects are distinguished. First, the effect due to “debt overhang” of past accumulated debts; and second,...

The global recovery continues. Although it is not yet complete, the more favorable conjuncture offers an opportunity to tackle key policy challenges to stave off medium-term downside risks, rebuild buffers, and raise potential output. Countries should undertake well-sequenced reforms to increase...