This paper surveys the foreign exchange markets, money and secondary government security markets, and stock exchanges in 107 smaller economy countries. The underdevelopment of these markets impedes risk transfer, monetary policy, corporate financing, and the capacity to absorb capital inflows....

One of the G-20's first reactions to the financial crisis that erupted by late 2008 was to task the IMF and the Financial Stability Board (FSB) with establishing a joint Early Warning Exercise (EWE). This Occasional Paper presents an overview of the IMF's contributions to the EWE. Part I sets...

The present report on the World Economic Outlook -- like the corresponding reports published in 1980 and 1981 -- is the outgrowth of a comprehensive staff project involving a number of departments of the Fund.

This paper provides a review of developments and prospects in the international capital markets, including official actions affecting the markets and the role of the markets in intermediation between surplus and deficit countries, in particular the non-oil developing countries.

This occasional paper provides an overview of the economic reform experiences of the Central Asian states of the former Soviet Union since their independence at the turn of the decade. The choice of countries reflects not only a geographical grouping, but also similarities in the types of...

Economic developments in Hungary during 1995-97 illustrate one of the most remarkable cases of macroeconomic adjustment in Europe over the last decade. Several momentous steps in the integration of the Hungarian economy with the rest of Europe and the industrial countries community took place....

The last few years have witnessed a resurgence of calls for a re-examination, or perhaps even a reform, of the international monetary system. This paper contributes to the ongoing debate on that subject in three ways: 1 it suggests a set of criteria for evaluating alternative exchange rate...

This is the third in a group of three papers dealing with various aspects of Fund-supported adjustment programs.

This paper provides a review of recent developments and an assessment of short-term prospects for private international capital markets, which constitute one of the main sources of international capital flows.