Natural disaster risk is emerging as an increasingly important constraint on economic development and poverty reduction. This paper first sets out the key stylized facts in the area-that the costs of disaster have been increasing, seem set to continue to increase, and bear especially heavily on...

This paper reviews the Maldives’s Use of IMF Resources and Request for Emergency Assistance. The authorities have requested a purchase of an amount equivalent to SDR 4.1 million (50 percent of quota) under the IMF’s policy on emergency assistance related to natural disasters. The...

This paper reviews the literature on the macroeconomic impact of natural disasters and presents the IMF’s role in assisting countries coping with natural catastrophes. Focusing on seven country cases, the paper describes the emergency financing, policy support, and technical assistance...

This paper presents assessment results for the current state of the implementation of the Basel Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision (BCP) in Spain. It found that significant changes have occurred in Spain since the last Financial Sector Assessment Program. The most serious has been...

This paper discusses key findings of the Detailed Assessment of Observance of International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) Insurance Core Principles for the United States. Most U.S. insurers write primary insurance on U.S. risks. The U.S. market is characterized by low market...

Contingent liabilities have gained prominence in the analysis of public finance. Indeed, history is full of episodes in which the financial position of the public sector is substantially altered-or its true nature uncovered-as a result of government bailouts of financial or nonfinancial...

Why do many households remain exposed to large exogenous sources of non-systematic income risk? We use a series of randomized field experiments in rural India to test the importance of price and non-price factors in the adoption of an innovative rainfall insurance product. Demand is...

This paper presents a detailed assessment of the observance of the Insurance Core Principles (ICP) of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) in Spain. The IMF, for their assessment, consulted the review of a self-assessment prepared by the General Directorate of Insurance...

This paper provides an update on the significant regulatory and supervisory development in the Spanish insurance sector since 2006. The Spanish authorities have taken steps to address a number of shortcomings identified in the 2006 Financial Sector Assessment Program. Most notably, cooperation...

We consider a moral hazard economy in banks and production to study how incentives for risk taking are affected by the quality of supervision. We show that low interest rates may generate excessive risk taking. Because of a pecuniary externality, the market equilibrium may not be optimal and...