While the global economic environment has changed considerably from end-2011 to the present for advanced and emerging economies alike, the themes and policy issues addressed by these papers share a timeless dimension. Collectively, the studies that comprise this volume deal with various aspects...

Using survey data on debt management strategies, this paper studies whether the probability that a country has a debt management strategy, publishes its debt strategy, and uses a benchmark-based strategy is affected by democratic accountability, institutional quality, past debt crises/defaults,...

Using survey data on debt management strategies, this paper studies whether the probability that a country has a debt management strategy, publishes its debt strategy, and uses a benchmark-based strategy is affected by democratic accountability, institutional quality, past debt crises/defaults,...

This paper estimates the structural model of Linde et al. (2008) using data for Macedonia and Slovakia. A comparison of the estimated model parameters suggest that, in Slovakia, the output gap is less sensitive to real interest rate movements and prices experience greater inertia. The estimated...

Starting from the constraints and incentives that cause countries to issue debt in foreign currency, this paper provides an overview of policy approaches for choosing the optimal currency structure of sovereign foreign-currency debt. The objective of sovereign debt managers generally includes...

This paper discusses the role and design of financial consumer protection (FCP), weaknesses of current FCP frameworks in light of the recent global financial crisis, policy responses to the crisis, and policy issues in FCP that remain to be addressed. The failures of financial consumer...

Emerging Central and Eastern Europe is the region most affected by spillovers of the global financial crisis. However, some countries in CEE appeared to have been more prepared and resilient than others. To draw some lessons on why some countries weathered the negative spillovers of the global...

The recent global financial crisis has had a diverse effect on countries’ fiscal stance, especially throughout the EU. This paper examines the impact of macroeconomic shocks, including those to government revenues and expenditures, on EU countries’ fiscal stance, on aggregate, and within the...

The global financial crisis and its ramification into the fiscal area have demonstrated the importance of regular assessment and monitoring of fiscal vulnerabilities, including the sustainability of sovereign debt. This paper extends the analytical framework of Favero and Giavazzi (2007) to...

This paper studies the development of institutional structures for prudential and business conduct supervision of financial services over the past decade for 98 high and middle income countries. It identifies possible drivers of changes in these supervisory structures using a panel ordered...