This paper sets forth some basic principles that could help debt managers in emerging market and other countries to plan and implement sovereign debt buyback and swap operations. It discusses the macroeconomic context in which buybacks and swaps are undertaken, the objectives of buybacks and...

Serbia has undergone a significant transformation, going from post-conflict devastation to being a legitimate aspirant to EU accession status. An IMF-supported program helped the country navigate the global financial crisis, and recovery is in train. Economic institutions have improved, in...

Even though the global financial crisis hit Ukraine hard, the Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) program managed to restore macroeconomic and financial stability. Executive Directors welcomed the new SBA aimed to consolidate public finances, restore banking system soundness, and develop a more robust...

This paper investigates empirically the drivers of financial imbalances ahead of the global financial crisis. Three factors may have contributed to the build-up of financial imbalances: (i) rising global imbalances (capital flows), (ii) monetary policy that might have been too loose, (iii)...

We investigate the complex interactions between credit constraints, political instability, and capital accumulation using a novel approach based on Kiyotaki and Moore’s (1997) theoretical framework. Drawing on a unique firm-level data set from Middle-East and North Africa (MENA),...

This paper measures the size of the stock of intangible capital in Canada using newly released data on the market value of all securities in the economy. The approach taken relies on a quantitative application of the q-theory of investment to generate the quantity of capital owned by firms. I...

Vietnam's macroeconomic performance has been strong, fueled by strong export performance, poverty reduction, and domestic investment. Executive Directors welcomed this development, and stressed the need for strong monetary, exchange rate, and fiscal policies. They appreciated the prudent...

Advocates for internal model-based capital regulation argue that this approach will reduce costs and remove distortions that are created by rules-based capital regulations. These claims are examined using a Merton-style model of deposit insurance. Analysis shows that internal model-based capital...

This paper extends the q-theory of investment to model explicitly the decision of firms to invest in intangibles and measures the contribution of intangible goods to the overall capital stock in the U.S. The model highlights the embodiment of intangible goods in tangibles and the role of...

Our proposal draws on the premise that the availability of stable demand deposits for bank lending, in the process of which inside money is created, does not require any act of intentional saving. The mechanism allowing banks to lend deposits does not function well in low-income countries, owing...