Over the past 20 years Nepal's financial sector has become deeper and the number and type of financial intermediaries have grown rapidly. Recent reforms have also made the banking sector more stable. Still, access to financial services remains limited for many people in Nepal, and has even been...

Microfinance institutions of four types have emerged to meet the unfulfilled financing needs of micro-entrepreneurs: commercial banks, specialized NGO-type microfinance institutions, membership-based institutions (such as rural cooperatives and credits unions), and public funds. All four types...

In response to a clear need by low-income people to gain access to the full range of financial services including savings, a growing number of microfinance NGOs are seeking guidelines to transform from credit-focused microfinance organizations to regulated deposit-taking financial...

The financial sectors of the post-communist economies of Europe and Central Asia are perhaps where the most intractable problems existed and where the most difficult reforms were forced to begin. This report examines the factors that influenced, and will influence, the adaptation of ECA's...

In this note work from the end of 2001 to August 2002 is updated in an attempt to disentangle potential contagion and spillover effects of the Argentine crisis from other sources of co-movement or market volatility. We also examine the evidence on FDI flows, inquiring about potentially more...

This report reviews loan classification and provisioning practices in a broad sample of countries that differ in size, location and level of financial development. The survey conducted for the report compares the regulatory approaches adopted by industrial and emerging economies, and is intended...

The volume is divided into five traditional areas of finance: the macroeconomy, banking, securities markets, pension issues, and regulations. Four cross-cutting messages emerge. First, the erosion of national frontiers by trade, tourism, migration, and capital account liberalization means that...

This paper, on the Polish fixed-income securities market, reviews the recent evolution of the Polish fixed-income market and examines selected policy challenges ahead, with a special focus on the municipal bond market. The study demonstrates that despite some progress, by which Poland has made...

This evaluation presents an independent assessment of the Bank's support for financial sector reforms over the period FY93-03. It is the second part of a two-part evaluation; the first part of the assessment covered lines of credit. This volume focuses on Bank lending for financial sector...

This evaluation provides an independent assessment of lines of credit financed by the World Bank during the period FY93-FY03. It is the first of a two-part evaluation looking at Bank support to the financial sector. The second part focuses on Bank support for financial sector reform. This volume...