At the height of the Great Depression a number of leading U.S. economists advanced a proposal for monetary reform that became known as the Chicago Plan. It envisaged the separation of the monetary and credit functions of the banking system, by requiring 100% reserve backing for deposits. Irving...

This paper starts from a discussion of the economic case for moderated government intervention in debt restructuring in the nonfinancial corporate sector. It then draws on lessons from past crises to explain three broad approaches that have been applied to corporate debt restructurings in the...

The Latvian authorities have strengthened their intervention capacity, financial supervision, and monitoring framework, and have taken steps to contain risks in Parex Bank. The staff report reviews the Republic of Latvia’s economic developments and policies. Substantial progress has been...

This paper discusses key findings of the Second Review and Financing Assurances Review Under the Stand-By Arrangement for Latvia. The sharp economic downturn is starting to bottom out, although recovery has not yet begun. The authorities have implemented the June 2009 supplementary budget, and...

The labor market remains weak, disinflation has slowed, but falling wages are improving competitiveness. The weak economic environment is putting pressure on the banking sector. Financial conditions have deteriorated recently because of international financial market tensions. The Bank of Latvia...

The External Balance Assessment (EBA) methodology has been developed by the IMF’s Research Department as a successor to the CGER methodology for assessing current accounts and exchange rates in a multilaterally consistent manner. Compared to other approaches, EBA emphasizes distinguishing...

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...

This paper focuses on Ukraine’s 2005 Article IV Consultation and Ex Post Assessment of Longer-Term Program Engagement. After four years of strong activity, annual growth has slowed sharply, from a peak of about 12 percent in 2004 to 3 percent for January–September 2005. Fiscal...

This 2005 Article IV Consultation highlights that Zimbabwe’s pace of economic deterioration slowed somewhat in 2004, but appears to have picked up again in the first half of 2005. IMF staff estimates that real GDP fell by about 4 percent in 2004, compared with a contraction of 10½...