The public debt profile has improved in Bolivia in recent years, with regard to both the maturity structure and the currency composition. This paper analyzes changes in the public debt profile in Bolivia since 2000, and the role played by macroeconomic factors and the debt management strategy...

Using detailed information on lobbying and mortgage lending activities, we find that lenders lobbying more on issues related to mortgage lending (i) had higher loan-to-income ratios, (ii) securitized more intensively, and (iii) had faster growing portfolios. Ex-post, delinquency rates are higher...

High oil prices have once again led to large external surpluses of oil exporting countries, similar to the 1970s and 1980s. This paper analyzes the extent to which (i) oil exporters use bank deposits to invest these surpluses, and (ii) banks are lending on these funds to emerging market...

This paper develops a theory of international currency portfolios that holds in general equilibrium, and that is therefore not subject to the criticisms directed at the portfolio balance literature of the 1980s. It shows that, under plausible assumptions about fiscal policy, the relationship...

Intro -- Contents -- I. INTRODUCTION -- II. PROS OF DOLLARIZATION: ANALYTICAL CONSIDERATIONS AND EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE -- III. CONS OF DOLLARIZATION -- IV. CHOICES OF CURRENCY REGIMES IN POSTCONFLICT COUNTRIES -- V. CONCLUSIONS: IS LIBERIA A CANDIDATE FOR FULL, DE JURE DOLLARIZATION? -- References.

Intro -- Contents -- I. INTRODUCTION -- II. BACKGROUND -- III. ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK, KEY CONCEPTS, AND DATA -- IV. FOREIGN CURRENCY MISMATCHES IN GEORGIA -- V. ADDRESSING BALANCE-SHEET VULNERABILITIES IN GEORGIA -- VI. CONCLUSIONS AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS -- REFERENCES.

Intro -- Contents -- I. INTRODUCTION -- II. SUPERVISORY PRACTICES -- III. TOWARDS GOOD PRACTICES -- COUNTRY PRACTICES: SURVEY RESULTS -- CURRENCY-INDUCED CREDIT RISK IN SELECTED BANKING SYSTEMS -- References.

Most tax systems create a tax bias toward debt finance. Such debt bias increases leverage and may negatively affect financial stability. This paper models and estimates debt bias in the financial sector, and present novel estimates for investment banks and non-bank financial intermediaries such...

One distinguishable characteristic of emerging market economies is that they are not financially robust. These economies are incapable of smoothing out large external shocks, as sudden capital outflows imply large and abrupt swings in the real exchange rate. Using a small open-economy model,...