This paper focuses on post-crisis fiscal priorities in the ASEAN-5 economies - Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Sound economic fundamentals and timely and forceful policy responses to the crisis, including fiscal stimulus, contributed to rapid economic recovery in the...

What accounts for variations in FDI flows from advanced to developing countries? How have FDI inflows explained cross-country growth experiences? In this paper we tackle both these questions empirically for a large sample of middle and low-income countries. Two key results emerge: (i) lower...

In the past decade, most of the EU New Member States experienced a severe credit-boom bust cycle. This paper argues that the credit boom-bust cycle was to a large extent the result of factors external to the region (“bad luck”). Rapid credit growth followed from a high liquidity in global...

This volume, edited by Mohsin S. Khan, Peter J. Montiel, and Nadeem U. Haque, examines recent IMF-developed empirical macroeconomic models dealing with adjustment and stabilization policies in developing countries. Some models are relevant for specific countries, and others relate to groups of...

This Selected Issues paper for the Russian Federation discusses existing empirical efforts to measure the determinants of cross-country financial integration. Empirical studies that have adopted the gravity-model framework have found that it is generally successful in explaining bilateral...

This 2009 Article IV Consultation highlights that the U.S. economy has experienced the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. In the second half of 2008, financial pressures intensified and came to a head with the failure of Lehman Brothers in September. Executive Directors have...

The macroeconomic developments in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia were positive, despite the Kosovo crisis. Executive Directors welcomed this development, stressed the need to implement prudent financial policies, and accelerate structural reforms. They emphasized the need to improve...

A considerable degree of macroeconomic stability was achieved by Bolivia, and by the steadfast implementation of structural reforms, most of the distortions that adversely affected the economy in the early 1980s were removed. The Bolivian authorities are committed to fighting poverty. Executive...

A sustained decline in fertility rates underlies a rapid aging and decline of Japan's population. This will have profound social and economic implications. The paper illustrates the difficult situation facing Japanese fiscal policy in the years ahead. The findings of this paper indicate that...

Papua New Guinea’s economic performance has strengthened since the last Article IV Consultation. The country has significant underlying vulnerabilities. The economy is exposed to commodity price shocks, and mineral production is expected to decline over the medium to longer term. However,...