While global rebalancing will mainly involve structural realignment among major advanced and emerging market economies, it could have significant impact on low-income countries (LICs). Simulations using a global general equilibrium model show that a more balanced global economy would tend to...

This study considers the role of export diversification in determining trade outcomes during the global financial crisis. The impact of export diversification (or concentration) is measured by assessing three different dimensions of specialization. First, concentration by geographic destination...

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.

This paper studies the volatility of commodity prices on the basis of a large dataset of monthly prices observed in international trade data from the United States over the period 2002 to 2011. The conventional wisdom in academia and policy circles is that primary commodity prices are more...

This paper discusses the progress report on the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) for Nigeria. The NEEDS 2004–07 is Nigeria’s reform based medium-term plan for economic recovery, growth, and development. Fiscal and monetary policies have been carefully...

This Selected Issues and Statistical Appendix paper assesses Romania’s external competitiveness by reviewing recent developments in a range of standard indicators and estimating equilibrium real exchange rates. The results suggest that, although Romania’s historical cost advantage vis-à-vis...