This paper discusses payments arrears in the Russian Federation and Ukraine, with emphasis on the gas and electric power sectors. Payments arrears, which were triggered primarily by the dislocations experienced during the transition from a centrally planned to a market economy, have reached...

Following very high inflation rates at the beginning of the reform process, most transition countries have succeeded in lowering their inflation to more moderate rates. Inflation rates in the Baltics, Russia, and other countries of the former Soviet Union are now typically in the range of...

This paper analyzes the evolution of monetary policy in Russia, focusing on the period January 1992–December 1995. Special attention is given to the role of monetary policy instruments. Initially, policy was completely dominated by flows of credit from the Central Bank of the Russian...

Russia''s regions are heavily exposed to regional income shocks because of an uneven distribution of natural resources and a Soviet legacy of heavily skewed regional specialization. Also, Russia has a limited mobility of labor and lacks fiscal instruments to deal with regional shocks. We assess...

This paper investigates whether the linkages between economic growth in Russia and growth in other countries in the region have weakened over time, particularly following the 1998 Russian crisis. It specifies an econometric model that includes standard growth determinants as well as Russian...

This paper examines the evolution of the exchange rate of the ruble vis-à-vis the U.S. dollar from exchange rate unification, in July 1992, to the end of 1993. The expected and actual paths of the exchange rate are related to the exchange and trade regime and to the stance of financial and...

This paper examines financial market comovements across European transition economies and compares their experience to that of their regions. Correlations in monthly indices of exchange market pressures can partly be explained by direct trade linkages, but not by measures of other fundamentals....

This paper discusses Russia’s balance of payments developments in recent years: the initial macroeconomic imbalances and systemic shocks which set the stage for the critical balance of payments difficulties Russia faced in the early 1990s; the lessons from the early phases of Russia’s...

This paper presents a general equilibrium model of interenterprise arrears, characterized by n-stage production technology with random productivity shocks. The model shows that large interenterprise arrears in transition economies may reflect substantial business risks in those countries and...

The reports highlights that, even though the Russian economy has started reviving from the crisis, growth has been moderate and inflation high. Executive Directors have advised that the focus should be on reducing fiscal vulnerabilities, lowering inflation, promoting a stronger and more...