The Asia-Pacific region was the first to be hit by the COVID-19 pandemic; it put a strain on its people and economies, and policymaking became exceptionally difficult. This departmental paper contains the assessment of the key challenges facing Asia at this critical juncture and policy advice to...

The paper begins with a brief review of the major problems facing the economy in 1984 and discusses how the financial regulatory framework had contributed to the development of those problems. A presentation of the sequencing of reforms follows. The main financial and other economic reforms are...