Systemic risk remains a major concern to policymakers since widespread defaults in the corporate and financial sectors could pose substantial costs to society. Forward-looking measures and/or indicators of systemic default risk are thus needed to identify potential buildups of vulnerability in...

This paper reexamines the empirical relationship between financial development and economic growth. It presents evidence based on cross-section and panel data using an updated dataset, a variety of econometric methods, and two standard measures of financial development: the level of liquid...

This paper explores the determinants of expected rates of realignment of the French franc/Deutsche mark exchange rate during the period 1987-1991. It does so by first estimating expected parity changes and then relating these to economic variables that are believed to influence agents’...

This Joint Staff Advisory Note (JSAN) highlights the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper–Country Development Strategy (PRSP–CDS) for the Kyrgyz Republic for 2007–10. The Kyrgyz authorities’ CDS for 2007–10 builds on the policy experience from the National Poverty...

Executive Directors believe that the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS) outlines a comprehensive framework for growth and poverty reduction in Ghana. The GPRS II rightly emphasizes private sector-led growth as key to broadening the country’s economic base. The GPRS II will...

The fourth annual progress report on the implementation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) provides a generally candid review of achievements and obstacles in implementation during 2006. The current report incorporates to a limited extent IMF staff recommendations from the previous Joint...

Liberia’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper highlights the civil war as the underlying cause of extreme poverty. A major challenge for the government is to attract more donor aid and private investment in the provision of infrastructure given its own limited budget and the constraints on...

This Joint Staff Advisory Note describes the progress made on the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) in Sierra Leone on the basis of the June 2008 progress report. The report analyzes key elements of the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS), including: macroeconomic performance; good governance,...

This paper discusses the Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (I-PRSP) of Grenada for poverty reduction in the interim period. It describes the country’s macroeconomic, structural, and social policies in support of growth and poverty reduction, as well as associated external financing...

This paper presents a Joint Staff Assessment of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper Progress Report for Madagascar. The assessment reveals that following a strong noninflation growth performance in 2003, macroeconomic developments in 2004 have been affected by adverse exogenous shocks....