How to entrench hard-won gains, increase resilience to shocks, and improve growth performance to reduce poverty? As Central America moves forward in regaining macroeconomic stability, these are the challenges. This study analyzes Central America’s real, fiscal, monetary, and financial...

Resilient growth is observed in 2012 in Seychelles. Weakness in tourism has been offset by increases from less-traditional markets. The current account and adjustments has administered prices in the second half of 2011, and a cycle of depreciation and inflation ensued. The fiscal accounts...

The Second Review Under the Three-Year Arrangement Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility of Rwanda explains macroeconomic challenges. Indicative limits on domestic debt have been established. If these limits are exceeded or inflation is rekindled, the domestic component of fiscal...

India’s strong growth and macroeconomic stability is owed to its sound macroeconomic policies and past structural reforms. Swelling capital inflows have highlighted the key policy challenges: managing financial globalization and tackling the supply constraints to growth. Monetary...

This paper reports on Bangladesh’s Financial System Stability Assessment. Considerable progress has been made in strengthening the resilience of the country's financial sector. Total assets of the banking sector have increased twofold since 2003, and credit to the private sector has risen...

We estimate ex post returns to emerging market debt by combining secondary-market prices with observed flows based on World Bank data. From 1970-2000, returns averaged 9 percent per annum, about the same as returns on a ten-year U.S. treasury bond. This reflects the combined effect of the 1980s...

This paper-consisting of a regional study and seven country studies-reviews the state of domestic public debt markets in Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama as at end-2005. Although they account for the lion's share of capital markets, regional...

This paper estimates bond-by-bond "haircuts"-realized investor losses-in recent debt restructurings in Russia, Ukraine, Pakistan, Ecuador, Argentina, and Uruguay. We consider both external and domestic retructurings. Haircuts are computed as the percentage difference between the present values...

The main risk to the program is that inflationary pressures would reemerge owing to improper management of the scaling up of aid and fiscal spending, or a protracted crisis in Kenya. The structural agenda focuses on maintaining the momentum in the previously initiated areas, particularly in the...

Afghanistan has made substantial progress toward macroeconomic stability, but structural reforms need to be accelerated. The uncertainty affecting the fiscal outlook warrants a prudent expenditure policy. Monetary policy has been instrumental in reducing inflation and safeguarding external...