Since the early 1990s, many countries in sub-Saharan Africa have made significant progress in opening their economies to external competition through trade and currency liberalization. This paper analyzes trade and policy developments for 22 countries in eastern and southern Africa, looks at...

This paper is Part I of a two-volume study conducted as a part of the IMF's ongoing process of evaluating its lending facilities. It focuses on IMF-supported programs and macroeconomic performance during 1988-92, reflecting information available through the end of 1993. Part I provides an...

This paper was prepared by Benedicte Vibe Christensen in the European Department of the International Monetary Fund under the direction of Gyorgy Szapary. It describes developments in international financial transactions conducted through the Swiss banking system until December 1985.

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...

In 2001- 02, Argentina experienced one of the worst economic crises in its history. A default on government debt, which occurred against the backdrop of a prolonged recession, sent the Argentine currency and economy into a tailspin. Although the economy has since recovered from the worst, the...

This Occasional Paper discusses the policies behind the favorable economic performance of the Philippines during the 1990s, when it emerged from a long period of slow growth and economic imbalances and managed to escape the "Asian crisis" relatively unscathed. The Philippines recent experience...

This paper, following two earlier studies, reviews the arrangements for restructuring commercial bank and official debt up to early 1985.

Poland's economy rebounded dramatically in 1992-93, several years after the nation embarded on a comprehensive program of economic transformation. This paper describes Polan's steps in the areas of public finance, monetary policy and financial sector reform, trade and exchange rate policy, and...

This paper reviews China's experience with market-oriented reform since 1978, including domestic reforms, the opening of the economy to foreign trade and investment, and the decentralization of decision making. It identifies special conditions that may have affected China's capacity to implement...

Regional trade arrangements have recently attracted growing interest, as existing schemes are either being extended or revived and new groupings are being formed. This study reviews recent initiatives and the experience with regional integration in industrial and developing countries and...