Author/Editor: Tamon Asonuma, Xavier Debrun, Paul R. Masson.

Release Date: May, 2012

This paper proposes a quantitative assessment of the welfare effects arising from the Common Monetary Area (CMA) and an array of broader grouping among Southern African Development Community (SADC) more...

Release Date: April, 2012

Barring the realization of downside risks to the global economy, growth in the Asia and the Pacific region is expected to gain momentum over the course of 2012, according to this report, and now more...

Author/Editor: Antonio Spilimbergo, Natasha Xingyuan Che.

Release Date: April, 2012

Which structural reforms affect the speed the regional convergence within a country? We found that domestic financial development, trade/current account openness, better institutional more...

Author/Editor: Izabela Karpowicz.

Release Date: March, 2012

This paper describes the institutional changes that have induced a decline in the vertical fiscal imbalance (VFI) - defined as the share of sub-national own spending not financed through own revenues more...

Author/Editor: Julio Escolano, Luc Eyraud, Marialuz Moreno Badia, Juliane Sarnes, Anita Tuladhar.

Release Date: February, 2012

This paper analyzes the impact of decentralization on overall fiscal performance in the European Union, taking into account fiscal institutional arrangements. We find that spending decentralization more...

Author/Editor: Pelin Berkmen.

Release Date: January, 2012

This paper asks whether the BoJ's recent experience with unconventional monetary easing has been effective in supporting economic activity and inflation. Using a structural VAR model, the paper finds more...

Author/Editor: Stijn Claessens, Neeltje van Horen.

Release Date: January, 2012

This paper introduces a comprehensive database on bank ownership for 137 countries over 1995-2009, and reviews foreign bank behavior and impact. It documents substantial increases in foreign bank more...

Author/Editor: Antonio Lemus, Paul Cashin.

Release Date: January, 2012

This paper studies the nature of the shocks affecting the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU), and examines whether a hypothetical Eastern Caribbean fiscal insurance mechanism could insure member more...

Author/Editor: Masafumi Yabara.

Release Date: January, 2012

Capital markets in the East African Community (EAC) face common challenges of low capitalization and liquidity, but to different degrees. EAC member countries have made noticeable progress in more...

Author/Editor: Florence Jaumotte, Hanan Morsy.

Release Date: January, 2012

While inflation differentials in a monetary union can be benign, reflecting a catch-up process, or an adjustment mechanism to asymmetric shocks or different business cycles, they may also indicate more...

Release Date: December, 2011

Author/Editor: Serhan Cevik.

Release Date: December, 2011

This paper investigates the empirical characteristics of business cycles and the extent of cyclical comovement in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, using various measures of more...

Author/Editor: Oral Williams, Kamiar Mohaddes.

Release Date: December, 2011

This paper uses a pairwise approach to investigate the main factors that have been driving inflation differentials in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region for the past two decades. The results more...

Release Date: July, 2011

The euro area (EA) plays a major role in the global economy. Market perceptions of events in the EA program countries illustrate the possibility of large spillovers from the area in times of stress. more...

Release Date: July, 2011

The European Union’s (EU) financial stability framework is being markedly strengthened. This is taking place on the heels of a severe financial crisis owing to weaknesses in the banking system more...

Release Date: July, 2011

In this study, the risks related to the euro area sovereign debt crisis are analyzed. Methods used to implement the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) are overviewed, and the European more...

Release Date: May, 2011

In 2010, average inflation has remained low in all West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) countries, but has edged up in the second half of the year. After a moderate fiscal easing by about more...

Release Date: March, 2011

Release Date: September, 2010

The aim is to analyze the main channels of transmission for shocks from the global economy to Guyana and assess their specific spillover magnitudes. The paper documents the transmission channels of more...

Author/Editor: Yi David Wang.

Release Date: August, 2010

This paper seeks to quantify existing financial barriers among East African Community (EAC) member countries based on analysis of each member country’s foreign exchange market. The primary more...