Although the rest of the world had waited a long time for China to open up, feelings were mixed when it actually did and began to integrate rapidly with the world economy. With the country’s recent accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), many of its trading partners are increasingly...

This Selected Issues paper and Statistical Appendix examines banking sector developments in the Republic of Tajikistan. The paper estimates quasi-fiscal activities in the energy sector, and provides an assessment of external sector trade and the need for further trade reform. Developments in the...

This paper elaborates on a number of key principles that need to underpin a coherent and development-friendly architecture for the WTO. The key principles include enlarging the scope of WTO bargaining to include labor flows as well as capital flows; creating a structure that would provide a...

This report examines recent economic developments and regional policy issues in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). Although progress has been achieved on the integration front since 1994, including the establishment of a customs union and the creation of the economic union,...

This Selected Issues paper and Statistical Annex for Mali examines recent economic developments in Mali. The paper highlights that since the early 1990s, Mali has made appreciable progress in reducing macroeconomic imbalances and liberalizing the economy. This has been made possible by...

This Selected Issues paper and Statistical Appendix reviews the factors behind developments in government revenue in Vietnam during 1996–2000. This period encompasses Vietnam’s continued transition to a market-based economy, the Asian financial crisis in 1997, and, toward the end,...

Barriers to trade come in a variety of forms. This paper examines one such barrier, export restrictions, and how it impacts trade and global supply in selected strategic metals and minerals. The metals and minerals examined in the paper are of particular interest for a number of reasons: they...

I evaluate India's transition from an inward-oriented development strategy to greater participation in the world economy. While tariff rates have decreased significantly over the past decade, India is still one of the more autarkic countries. Despite improvement over the past in export...