This paper surveys some of the principal monetary policy issues facing countries of the former U.S.S.R. The emphasis is on the immediate problem of imposing financial discipline in these economies, to bring down inflation quickly and decisively. Possible options for the essential nominal anchor...

Drawing on the 2016 update of the IMF's Central Bank Legislation Database, this paper examines differences in central bank legal frameworks before and after the Global Financial Crisis. Examples from select countries show that many central bank laws have undergone changes in objectives,...

This paper describes how behavioral elements are relevant to financial supervision, regulation, and central banking. It focuses on (1) behavioral effects of norms (social, legal, and market); (2) behavior of others (internalization, identification, and compliance); and (3) psychological biases....

The paper finds that exchange rate flexibility in emerging market countries has increased over the past decade. This ""learning to float"" appears to have involved a strengthening of monetary and financial policy frameworks aimed at directly addressing the key vulnerabilities that give rise to...

This paper analyzes the evolution and effectiveness of Indonesia’s monetary control system following the financial reforms implemented since 1983. These reforms entailed the abolition of interest rate and credit ceilings, a change in the central bank’s funding role, the introduction of new...

This paper proposes a stylized sequencing of banking supervision and bank restructuring measures designed to complement and expedite the adoption of indirect instruments of monetary policy. Appropriate sequencing reflects both operational considerations and macroeconomic effects of structural...

The paper reviews the experience of financial reforms in Sudan with a view to assessing their macroeconomic impact and to shedding light on the question why such reforms have not yet brought about visible improvements in financial intermediation. The paper concludes that regardless of the...

In recent years a number of countries have undertaken far-reaching reforms of their financial sectors. Generally speaking, financial sector reforms aim at achieving greater flexibility of interest rates, an enhanced role for market forces in credit allocation, increased independence for the...