This paper presents the DIGNAR (Debt, Investment, Growth, and Natural Resources) model, which can be used to analyze the debt sustainability and macroeconomic effects of public investment plans in resource-abundant developing countries. DIGNAR is a dynamic, stochastic model of a small open...

We develop a tractable small open-economy model to study the first-round effects of international food price shocks in developing countries. We define first-round effects as changes in headline inflation that, holding core inflation constant, help implement relative price adjustments. The model...

This paper analyzes how differences in legal origin, judicial efficiency, and investor protection affect firm leverage and earnings volatility across developing countries. Using a large number of developing countries, four main findings are highlighted. First, firms in civil legal origin...

This paper discusses Canada’s Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) impact on the insurance sector of a low interest rate environment. It highlights that actuarial standards on valuation of liabilities require that assumed reinvestment rates take increasing account of current market...

This 2013 Article IV Consultation highlights that the Canadian economy strengthened in 2013 after a subdued performance in 2012, but the underlying growth has remained modest. Despite the depreciating exchange rate, non-energy exports remained well below the levels reached after earlier...

This report underlies Canada’s Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) in the areas of crisis management and blank resolution. The provincial deposit insurance systems (DIS) and resolution frameworks are highly heterogeneous and the FSAP’s analysis suggests that the preparedness...

KEY ISSUES Economic outlook: The Canadian economy has expanded at a solid pace since 2013, but rebalancing of growth away from household consumption and residential investment remains incomplete, owing mainly to weak business investment. Growth momentum is expected to continue alongside a...

The goal of this paper is to assess the effectiveness of the policy measures taken by Canadian authorities to address the housing boom. We find that the the last three rounds of macroprudential policies implemented since 2010 were associated with lower mortgage credit growth and house price...