Stabilization programs supported by use of Fund resources typically contain limitations on credit expansion by the domestic banking system and on foreign borrowing by the public sector. This paper analyzes some of the implications of credit policies for output and growth and how they relate to...

The use of direct credit controls as instruments for achieving balance of trade and payments objectives is a well-known proposition; the present paper raises some questions related to the implementation of such a policy. In particular, the paper investigates with the help of a simple model the...

Experience with multilateral debt restructurings with official creditors and with international banks in the second half of the 1970s was described in External Indebtedness of Developing Countries, issued in 1981. The present paper reviews recent developments, covering the period through early...

The external indebtedness of non-oil developing countries has been of growing concern in recent years. Several factors have brought the debt issue to the forefront of the problems facing a number of countries, including the rapid rise in extenal debt in the recent past, changes in the...

Monetary policy has become increasingly important in the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) as fiscal adjustment and structural reforms have taken root. Inflation has been brought down to relatively low levels in almost all of these countries, raising the question of what...

Historically, countries with currency board arrangements (CBAs) have experienced lower inflation and higher growth than those with other regimes. The experiences of three candidates for EU membership with CBAs (Estonia, Lithuania, and Bulgaria) have also been generally favorable. Can CBAs serve...

This paper provides a description and analysis of recent developments in international capital (banking and bond) markets and an assessment of market conditions and prospects for financing flows, in particular

This paper provides a description and analysis of recent developments in international capital markets and an assessment of the prospects for private financing flows, in particular to the developing countries.