This paper seeks to draw lessons from the IMF’s experience in handling financial crises around the globe over the past ten years that are relevant to the challenges faced by countries in Latin America, especially in the wake of the recent crisis in Argentina. Experience suggests that...

This paper presents an update to the Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC) on Fiscal Transparency Module for the Republic of Poland. The original ROSC concluded that boundaries of the general government were well defined by the public finance law, but proliferation of...

The report focuses on the social sectors, agriculture, and governance. However, the report fails to highlight the importance of tackling decisively certain structural reforms that are critical to achieving the poverty reduction objectives of sustaining growth and reducing poverty. The...

Building on the substantial progress made in establishing fiscal systems consistent with market economies, the paper identifies priorities for further fiscal structural reforms among the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries. Activities of extra budgetary accounts and quasi-fiscal...

Soon after Korea agreed to an IMF-supported program, Seoul Bank and Korea First Bank were nationalized through an injection of public funds by the government. The two banks were singled out early in the IMF-supported program to be sold to foreign investors. Korea First Bank was sold to foreign...

This paper investigates the presence of depositor discipline in the U.S. banking sector. We test whether depositors penalize (discipline) banks for poor performance by withdrawing their uninsured deposits. While focusing on the movements in uninsured deposits, we also account for the possibility...

This report provides an assessment of fiscal transparency in Germany. The assessment has two parts. The first is a description of practices, prepared by the IMF staff on the basis of discussions with the authorities, their comprehensive responses to the fiscal transparency questionnaire, and...