Staff Discussion Notes showcase the latest policy-related analysis and research being developed by individual IMF staff and are published to elicit comment and to further debate. These papers are generally brief and written in nontechnical language, and so are aimed at a broad audience...

Staff Discussion Notes showcase the latest policy-related analysis and research being developed by individual IMF staff and are published to elicit comment and to further debate. These papers are generally brief and written in nontechnical language, and so are aimed at a broad audience...

This volume examines the impact on economic performance of structural policies-policies that increase the role of market forces and competition in the economy, while maintaining appropriate regulatory frameworks. The results reflect a new dataset covering reforms of domestic product markets,...

The economic and financial crisis is affecting the fiscal accounts of virtually every country. Public sector support for the financial system, fiscal stimulus and the automatic stabilizers, as well as the revenue decline from the downturn in commodity and asset prices, are leading to sharp...

Financial globalization has increased dramatically over the past three decades, particularly for advanced economies, while emerging market and developing countries experienced more moderate increases. Divergences across countries stem from different capital control regimes, and factors such as...

Since the mid-1980s, a good number of West African countries started experimenting with policies of financial sector reforms with a view to increasing prospects for economic growth. However, the empirical evidence on the relationship between financial reforms and growth is still mixed. This...

The tax deductibility of interest payments in most corporate income tax systems coupled with no such measure for equity financing creates economic distortions and exacerbates leverage. This paper discusses the consequences of this debt bias and the possible remedies.

Financialisation is a complex and dynamic process of enlarging the monetary and financial relations in economy and society. This paper deals with the analysis of the financial market structure such as: the role and magnitude of financial sectors, the dynamics of the banking sector versus the...

After the 2007-2009 global financial crisis and previous financial crises in Latin America, the liquidity-risk exposure of banking systems is considered one of the most important vulnerabilities. At the same time, that exposure may also be the most mysterious of those vulnerabilities, as the...