The Brady Initiative has led to the conclusion of several debt-relief agreements. Opinion on the effects of these agreements on the debtor countries involved vary widely. The following article aims at clarifying the debate.

In the countries of Eastern Europe the question as to the degree of currency convertibility is among the most important decisions to be taken when setting the framework for a free market economy. This article attempts to indicate the monetary and fiscal measures that will be required if the...

Many developing countries are currently considering liberalisation of external capital flows. While the ultimate objective of financial opening is to raise efficiency and growth, the reform process must be carefully designed to achieve these results. A recent conference has discussed the policy...

Recently, the calls for closer monetary co-operation between the Asian NICs and Japan have been becoming louder. The following article discusses the pros and cons of pegging to the yen and compares them with those of a basket peg.

This article presents event studies that find a significant effect on dollar bond yield spreads when rating agencies put emerging-market sovereign bonds on review with negative outlook. The finding has two conditional implications. If rating agencies can be turned from late into early warning...