Since 1995, 17 African countries have defied expectations and have launched a remarkable, if little-noticed, turnaround, Emerging Africa describes this revitalization and why it is likely to continue. --

Over the past several years, Nepal has pursued a prudent fiscal policy, which has resulted in a significant reduction of public debt as a percentage of GDP. This paper reexamines the fiscal stance in Nepal in light of recent developments. The optimal level of the fiscal deficit is constrained by...

The rapid growth of the financial system presents a number of challenges to maintaining financial stability in Nepal. There has been a rapid growth of the banking sector over the last few years. State-owned institutions continue to dominate the banking system. Equity market capitalization has...

In recent years, the IMF has released a growing number of reports and other documents covering economic and financial developments and trends in member countries. Each report, prepared by a staff team after discussions with government officials, is published at the option of the member country

This Selected Issues paper highlights that progress on structural reforms in Nepal stalled during 1994/95 while economic performance deteriorated. Real GDP slowed as agriculture output was depressed by a less favorable monsoon, and exports declined as both the carpet and garment sectors...

Rodriguez and Rodrik (2000) argue that the relation between openness and growth is still an open question. One of the main problems in the assessment of the effect is the endogeneity of the relation. In order to address this issue, this paper applies the identification through heteroskedasticity...

This paper presents an overview of the different methodologies that can be used to measure the amount of available slack in an economy. A comparison of these alternatives reveals that the evolution of the Nairu is crucial for understanding recent cyclical developments in the French economy. A...

The export performance of the French economy relative to its own past and relative to a major trading partner, Germany, has deteriorated. The risk analysis indicates that French firms have seen a significant improvement in the corporate health, and seem resilient to the recent financial shock...

U.S. shocks explain a large part of French output common components. This paper analyzes the economic implications of two alternative welfare financing reforms: a reduction in payroll taxes funded by an increase in consumption taxes, and the other funded by a new levy on business value added....