Upon entry into the European Union, countries become members of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), with a derogation from adopting the euro as their currency (that is, each country joining the EU commits to replace its national currency with the euro, but can choose when to request...

German banks tend to be less profitable than their foreign counterparts. This paper estimates the likely effect of the phaseout of state guarantees for public sector banks, reviews the various ways in which public policy could contribute to their restructuring, and discusses the various...

In its surveillance activities, the Fund is frequently confronted with the difficult problem of how to identify exchange rate behavior that is unrelated to underlying economic and financial conditions and, consequently, should be viewed with concern from a national or international standpoint....

This study, another in the series focusing on special issues in transition, reviews the experience of output decline and recovery in the 25 countries of eastern and central Europe and the Baltics, Russia, and other countries of the former Soviet Union. Although these countries began the process...

The last few years have witnessed a resurgence of calls for a re-examination, or perhaps even a reform, of the international monetary system. This paper contributes to the ongoing debate on that subject in three ways: 1 it suggests a set of criteria for evaluating alternative exchange rate...

This is the third in a group of three papers dealing with various aspects of Fund-supported adjustment programs.

This paper provides a review of recent developments and an assessment of short-term prospects for private international capital markets, which constitute one of the main sources of international capital flows.

This report on the World Economic Outlook like the one published last year is the outgrowth of a comprehensive staff project involving a number of departments of the Fund.

For over 10 years, the IMF has supported adjustment and reform programs in many of its low-income members through two facilities established specifically for that purpose - the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF) and its precursor the Structural Adjustment Facility (SAF). By the end...