In countries where the black market premium on foreign exchange is exceptionally high, often more than 100 percent, lowering the black market rate to a level close to the market determined official rate will improve the balance of payments and increase exports. Floating the currency to...

Administrative exchange allocation has been common in developing countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Steps to dismantle or modify these control mechanisms have been carried out through traditional schemes. The authors draw lessons from sub-Saharan Africa's historical experience useful...

Import prices in the U.S. have not responded as expected to large fluctuations in the exchange rate. This paper analyzes the response of Japanese and U.S. steel prices to changes in the yen-dollar exchange rate (the exchange rate pass-through, or percentage change in import prices as a result of...

Structural adjustment programs in sub-Saharan African countries in the 1980s removed trade restrictions, price controls, and export taxes and abolished state-owned commodity marketing bodies. The authors studied the effects of these policy changes on the coca sector, using a global econometric...

Bulgaria's shaky macroeconomic situation is a serious obstacle for a smooth transition from central planning to markets. It has to correct large current account deficits with the convertible currencyarea. It has to eliminate inflationary pressures and large price distortions, and get into a path...

The author analyzes the macroeconomic effects of inflation in the nontradables sector of a small open economy to suggest how different macroeconomic policies would facilitate structural adjustment after price liberalization in a transition economy. She uses a Mundell-Fleming rational...

Korea's exports have made an important contribution to its outstanding economic growth. Its exports, in turn, have been affected by domestic economic variables, including exchange rate policy, and by external influences. Among domestic economic variables, the exchange rate appears to have had a...

Despite belonging to a monetary union with a common currency and pooled foreign reserves, the countries of Africa's franc zone (CFA) experience substantially different inflation rates, especially in the short run. The authors develop a model of inflation differentials for the franc zone...

Inflation always has a monetary dimension, but managing inflation is not a simple question of monetary management. Other factors to contend with are the indexation process (including policies on wage and price controls), the level and financial composition of fiscal deficits, and supply...

Nonfuel primary commodity prices fell more than 30 percent in real terms between 1984 and 1990, even though global economic growth was reasonably strong. The collapse of international commodity agreements, rapid increases in supply for some crops, and agricultural policies in industrial...