Whereas some central bank derivatives and other contingent liabilities arise from anomalous circumstances, there are a number of positive reasons that explain their popularity. After analyzing the rationale for these operations, we stress that most of these operations, being off-balance sheet,...

In a model where all banks are initially solvent, an exogenous shock affects confidence, causing a flight from deposits into domestic and foreign currency. Real interest rates increase unexpectedly, affecting firms and raising the share of the banks nonperforming assets. This contagion causes a...

In designing policy measures, including possible social safety nets, targeted to the poor, it is important to fully understand the efficiency implications of these measures. There is abundant macroeconomic literature on their negative effects on the poor`s work effort. The literature, however,...

This paper discusses the interrelationships between fiscal deficits and public debt. It analyzes the sources of growth of domestic and foreign public debt, and deals with the fiscal policy constraints imposed by a high level of indebtedness. It also discusses the macro-economic effects of public...

This paper argues that the IMF's traditional monetary conditionality - a ceiling on net domestic assets of the central bank and a floor on its net international reserves - should be adapted in IMF-supported adjustment programs with countries which have a framework of explicit inflation targets...

Reforms in Central–Eastern Europe and in the former Soviet Union have challenged the ability of established theories to account for such an extraordinary political, economic and social transformation. As it is too soon to analyse the outcomes of these reforms, Mario Blejer and Fabrizio...