"This paper examines the effects of inflation targeting on industrial and emerging economies' output growth over the "globalization years" of 1986-2004. Controlling for trade openness and two indicators of financial globalization, the authors find systematic positive and significant effects of...

This assessment reviews earnings and employment outcomes in Colombia, Tunisia, and Turkey during 1998-2007, as well as five policy areas (the MILES framework) likely to affect those outcomes: macroeconomic conditions, investment climate, labor regulations, education, and social protection....

Open banking schemes provide consumers with more choice and new financial products and services through the use of technology, particularly application programing interfaces (API's). The main objective of this paper is to provide guidance on how to implement consumer consent protocols to access...

In South Asia, the modern microfinance movement was born in Bangladesh in the 1970s as a response to the prevailing poverty conditions among its vast rural population. Astonishing growth rates in Bangladesh, particularly during 1990s, created a new dimension for microfinance worldwide as...

The overall state of financial inclusion in Russia is relatively advanced along certain basic metrics. The number of adults with accounts at a financial institution stands at 67.4 percent, which compares well to the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) regional average of 51.4 percent. Account...

Conditions in global financial markets have eased since mid-2012, reflecting improvements in fiscal sustainability and the establishment of mutual support mechanisms in the European Union (EU), even as the global economic recovery remains fragile and susceptible to downside risks. South Africa's...

The development of a far reaching correspondent banking network is one of the key factors behind Brazil's success story in financial inclusion. Between 2005 and 2011, the number of correspondents approximately doubled to more than 160,000. The Central Bank encouraged financial institutions to...

This note focuses on the regulatory and market environment relevant to the emergence and adoption of innovative delivery channels to promote greater financial inclusion in Malaysia. Financial inclusion is defined here not only as providing access to financial services, but also as enabling and...

Financial service provision has expanded since the 2004 financial sector assessment program (FSAP) update, but access to financial services can expand greatly through mobile banking. An estimated 47 percent of adults in El Salvador have deposit accounts at a regulated financial institution,...

This chapter highlights the growing global and European financial inclusion agenda and provides a brief assessment of vulnerability and labor market outcomes for Roma in Eastern Europe. Financial inclusion is considered by many to be among the main instruments to improve welfare, especially...