A preliminary analysis of the impact of the Asian crisis shows that poverty could increase significantly in Indonesia, Korea and Thailand. The adjustment programs incorporate measures to mitigate the costs of the crisis. But if the crisis deepens, additional policy options might need to be...

On November 2, 1999, Montenegro began a major currency reform leading to the introduction of the German mark as the legal tender. This and the subsequent liberalization of Montenegro's monetary – exchange and trade regimes led to the introduction of the euro in 2002. But there is very limited,...

Recent unilateral dollarizations in Ecuador and El Salvador (that adopted the US dollar) and Montenegro (that adopted the euro) showed that unilaeral monetary unions can be implemented and sustained even under harsh economic conditions. The paper reviewes recent experience with such...

Bulgaria is one in the group of Eastern European countries in which single-party communist rule came to an end in 1989. This paper presents an overview of the consequent political change and economic policy in Bulgaria as the transition progressed, up until the end of 1994

The paper reviews the introduction of the value-added tax in Bulgaria, design and implementation issues and assesses the early revenue performance. The analysis is relevant for other countries contemplating the introduction of the value-added tax

The paper synthesizes general lessons of Bulgaria's experience with public finance reforms in the early transition arising from the 14-paper volume FINANCING GOVERNMENT IN THE TRANSITION: BULGARIA, Political Economy of Tax Policies, Tax Bases, and Tax Evasion, World Bank Regional and Sectoral...

The paper considers the choice of a tax system in the transition from socialism. The paper reviews the tax system in Bulgaria inherited from socialism and revenues generated in the early transition. It then describes the relatively high tax rate, Western European-type tax system introduced in...

Understanding dollarisation and related debates requires an appreciation of what might be called the "calculus of dollarisation," i.e., a tally of real and perceived costs and benefits of full dollarisation (the adoption of the foreign currency such as the dollar as legal tender in a given...

The paper examines intergovernmental fiscal relations in the Caribbean from the perspective of general principles of fiscal federalism and international practice, and considers the effects of intergovernmental design on macroeconomic management

The papers in the present SUERF Study is a selection of the papers presented at a SUERF Workshop and Special OeNB East Jour Fixe on the Russian financial system held at Oesterreichische Nationalbank in Vienna on 23 January 2009