The challenges of financial systems have immediate or medium-term social effects. The financial industry is constantly searching for measures to reduce these challenges, especially for those with little or no access to financial services. While current communication technologies make services...

The challenges of financial systems have immediate or medium-term social effects. The financial industry is constantly searching for measures to reduce these challenges, especially for those with little or no access to financial services. While current communication technologies make services...

Qatar has recently taken steps toward introducing a medium-term budget framework (MTBF) to enhance the predictability of spending decisions in the country. However, implementing medium-term fiscal planning requires formal procedural fiscal rules and parallel efforts to enhance the credibility of...

This paper examines debt dynamics in the Caribbean and discusses policy options for reducing the high debt levels. Based on empirical studies of factors underlying global large debt reduction episodes, important policy lessons are drawn for the Caribbean. The analysis shows that major debt...

This paper is a report of Nicaragua’s performance under the 2007–11 program. The period was marked by a stern financial crisis, price shocks, and disasters, but the program maintained the macroeconomic stability. Although the program had several hurdles, its achievements were...

The economy of Mongolia was extremely affected during the crisis, owing to its dependency on mineral exports and history of procyclical macroeconomic policies. In this study, the ex post evaluation (EPE) of Mongolia’s experience is reviewed. The EPE focused on program design and...

This 2009 Article IV Consultation highlights that the global economic crisis and collapse in copper prices in 2008 hit the Mongolian economy hard. The loose macropolicies and tightly managed exchange rate pursued during the preceding boom years had made the economy particularly vulnerable, and...

This paper analyzes recent fiscal policies of nonrenewable resource exporting countries in Latin America and the Caribbean in the context of sharp swings in resource prices. Fiscal policies were predominantly procyclical during the boom period 2003-08 but to significantly differing degrees...