Fiscal problems have long been considered a central feature of financial--that is, currency, debt, and banking--crises. This paper addresses four questions: What are the fiscal causes of crises? Which fiscal vulnerability indicators help to predict crises? Can fiscal variables explain the...

The most salient trend in monetary policy over the past two decades has been increasing reliance on money market operations, which reflects the belief that allowing market forces to allocate financial resources brings about increased economic efficiency and growth. However, small economies and...

This study explores the industrial and developing countries' use of capital controls since World War II, including their rationales for using them, and describes their experiences with relaxing controls as part of broader liberalization and structural reform efforts. The papers also outlines the...

The rapid increase in international trade and financial integration over the past decade and the growing importance of emerging markets in world trade and GDP have inspired the IMF to place stronger emphasis on multilateral surveillance, macro-financial linkages, and the implications of...

This paper focuses on what countries can do on their own-that is, on the role of domestic policies-with respect to country insurance. Member countries are routinely faced with a range of shocks that can contribute to higher volatility in aggregate output and, in extreme cases, to economic...

Regional trade arrangements have recently attracted growing interest, as existing schemes are either being extended or revived and new groupings are being formed. This study reviews recent initiatives and the experience with regional integration in industrial and developing countries and...

How to entrench hard-won gains, increase resilience to shocks, and improve growth performance to reduce poverty? As Central America moves forward in regaining macroeconomic stability, these are the challenges. This study analyzes Central America’s real, fiscal, monetary, and financial sector...

A tripolar international monetary system-centered on the U.S. dollar, the deutsche mark, and the yen - appears to be emerging. This paper not only assesses the role of the yen as an international currency but also presents a unified theory of international currency use and distinguishes between...

This study examines the financial reforms undertaken by nine Asian countries in the 1980s (Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand) and their implications for money demand and monetary policy

This study identifies the key characteristics of a successful exchange rate system. It focuses on regimes in the industrial countries and consider the implications for the operation of the international monetary system