Poland has experienced a great deal of worsening of its fiscal situation following the economic slowdown of 2008–2009 caused by the worldwide financial crisis. General government deficit reached around 8% of GDP in 2010 both as a result of lower economic activity but also due to structural...

In this paper we address the issue of tax burden and its measurement, beginning with a discussion of use of tax-to-GDP ratio for this purpose. We show that this commonly used indicator has a number of flaws, related to the methodology of calculation of taxes and GDP in national accounts....

This paper combines a monetary structural vector-autoregression (SVAR)with a fiscal SVAR for Poland. Fiscal foresight, in the form of implementation lags, is accounted for with respect to both discretionary government spending and tax changes. We demonstrate the importance of combining monetary...

On 26-27 June 2008, the BIS held its Seventh Annual Conference on "Whither monetary policy? Monetary policy challenges in the decade ahead" in Luzern, Switzerland. The event brought together senior representatives of central banks and academic institutions to exchange views on this topic. BIS...

Market-makers serve a crucial role in financial markets by providing liquidity to facilitate market efficiency and functioning. This report - prepared by a Study Group chaired by Denis Beau (Bank of France) - assesses changes in the supply of and demand for market-making services as well as...