This technical note discusses the lessons learned from the financial crisis in Russia in 2008. The note summarizes key findings and recommendations, and analyzes the institutional framework and coordination arrangements for systemic risk monitoring and crisis management. It also covers crisis...

The paper discusses the social protection implications of the weakening financial and administrative capacity of countries undergoing economic transition. The formal sector is shrinking, and unemployment and underemployment are rising rapidly. This is affecting both the revenue base of social...

BRICs development financing flows have increased significantly and are expected to become more prominent in the post-crisis era. We investigate the potential implications on the country-allocation of loan commitments and the degree of concessionality using a panel vector autoregression model and...

Recent developments and reforms in the Russian payments system are discussed from the perspective of their impact on monetary policy. The large and highly variable payment float in the balance sheet of the Central Bank of Russia has complicated the conduct of monetary policy. However, reforms in...

This paper reviews the experience with macroeconomic stabilization in Russia during the 2 1/2 years following the beginning of reforms in January 1992. It focuses on the different perceptions about the nature, the causes and the consequences of inflation in Russia and about the policies required...

Prices in Russia have been decontrolled in several steps since early 1991, after decades of near-fixity. Their behavior before and after the January 1992 price liberalization is analyzed here, as are the associated movements of wages and overall consumer incomes and expenditures. The emphasis is...

KEY ISSUES Context. Growth has slowed amidst weak investment and external demand, while the output gap appears to be at or near zero and inflation is elevated. Activity is currently weak, but is expected to accelerate somewhat later this year. However, structural factors constrain medium-term...

This Selected Issues paper analyzes the impact of the adoption of inflation targeting (IT) on exchange rate volatility in Russian Federation. Russia has seen an increase in exchange rate volatility during the past few years compared with the period before the global financial crisis, as the...