This paper examines the revenue response to inflows of foreign aid in 107 countries during the period 1970–2000, In particular, it investigates whether the impact of aid on the revenue effort depends on the composition of aid (grants vis-à-vis loans). The results indicate that while...

We review the impact of the global financial crisis, and its spillovers into the sovereign sector of the euro area, on the international “rules of the game†for dealing with sovereign debt crises. These rules rest on two main pillars. The most important is the IMF’s lending...

Romania’s external position continues to improve. Inflation peaked in December 2010, and is now likely to decline. Financial market stress has remained relatively low in recent months. The current account deficit improved from 13½ percent of GDP in 2007 to about 4¼ percent of GDP in...

St. Lucia faces significant policy challenges in the aftermath of Hurricane Tomas. It is experiencing an urgent balance of payments need that would result in a severe economic disruption. The government is focused on achieving medium-term debt sustainability. The policies outlined tackle urgent...

Fiscal profligacy, an erosion of competitiveness, and governance problems have undermined investor confidence and curtailed access to foreign financing in Zimbabwe. The new economic team has taken steps in devaluing the currency and raising the awareness of public opinion about the size of the...

We examine how the cost of corporate credit varies around fiscal consolidations aimed at reducing government debt. Using a new dataset on fiscal consolidations and syndicated corporate loan data, we find that loan spreads increase with fiscal consolidations, especially for small firms, domestic...

We assess econometrically the impact of asset shortages on economic growth, asset bubbles, the probability of a crisis, and the current account for a group of 41 Emerging markets for 1995-2008. The econometric estimations confirm that asset shortages pose a serious danger to EMs in terms of...

Two striking facts about international capital flows in emerging economies motivate this paper: (1) Governments hold large amounts of international reserves, for which they obtain a return lower than their borrowing cost. (2) Purchases of domestic assets by nonresidents and purchases of foreign...

The reports highlights that, even though the Russian economy has started reviving from the crisis, growth has been moderate and inflation high. Executive Directors have advised that the focus should be on reducing fiscal vulnerabilities, lowering inflation, promoting a stronger and more...

Barbados' economy continued to grow, but macroeconomic imbalances worsened. Executive Directors observed that the imbalances are owed to a procyclical fiscal stance, and advised to tighten monetary policy and safeguard the fixed exchange rate regime as an anchor of macroeconomic stability. They...