Miscellaneous Publication (Other)
2004
March 9, 2004
The Arab World: Performance and Prospects
Description: The Arab World: Performance and Prospects
January 30, 2004
IMF Macroeconomic Research on Low-Income Countries
Description: Summarizes the for ward-looking analytical work program on macroeconomic issues related to the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper approach. The program is evolving through a process that began with a technical workshop; participants from low-income countries, donors, academia, and civil society drafted guidance on selected issues and identified priority research topics. Partners, policymakers, and economic scholars are encouraged to share their perspectives and findings through respective team leaders, whose e-mail addresses are provided. The publication also summarizes IMF analytical work, and contains a bibliography of nearly 1,000 papers.
2003
September 25, 2003
Japan Administered Account for Selected IMF Activities (JSA)--Annual Report Fiscal Year 2002
Description: This paper reports about the IMF and its activities, and particularly its technical assistance activities, the Japan Administered Account for Selected Fund Activities (JSA)—its objectives, size and scope, and use—with a focus on fiscal year 2002 and the scholarship programs. As the IMF seeks to meet its mandate, the demand on its technical assistance resources is expected to increase in a variety of areas, including helping countries to build capacity for their anti-money laundering and combating financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) efforts; to adopt and adhere to international standards and codes for financial, fiscal, and statistical management; to help Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs) design and manage debt reduction programs; and to help low-income countries formulate and implement poverty reduction strategies. The Japan-IMF Scholarship Program for Asia supports a 12-month course of graduate studies in Japan in macroeconomics or related fields for students from Asia and the Pacific and Central Asia, and is administered by the Regional Office in Tokyo.
September 22, 2003
The Boom-Bust Capital Spending Cycle in the United States: Lessons Learned
September 5, 2003
Choosing Exchange Regimes in the Middle East and North Africa
Description: This paper reviews the exchange regimes of five emerging market countries in the Middle East and North Africa region-Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, and Tunisia-and one oil-exporting country-Iran-to see whether they need to consider adopting more flexible arrangements as they further open their economies to trade and capital flows.
September 5, 2003
Financial Development and Growth in the Middle East and North Africa
Description: In this study, the authors assess financial sector development in the MENA regionand propose several policy measures, which include reinforcing the institutional environment and promoting nonbank financial sector development, to enhance this sector’s performance.
September 5, 2003
The Middle East and North Africa in a Changing Oil Market
Description: The world oil market has undergone a series of changes that have reduced the share of oil in the global energy balance and, with it, the influence of Middle Eastern oil exporters. In spite of oil’s loss of ground, however, Middle Eastern countries remain at the center of world oil developments. This paper focuses on the developments in the international oil market, the role of Middle Eastern countries therein, and the policy challenges arising from the dependency on oil.
September 5, 2003
Challenges of Growth and Globalization in the Middle East and North Africa
Description: The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is an economically diverse region. Despite undertaking economic reforms in many countries, and having considerable success in avoiding crises and achieving macroeconomic stability, the region’s economic performance in the past 30 years has been below potential. This paper takes stock of the region’s relatively weak performance, explores the reasons for this out come, and proposes an agenda for urgent reforms.
September 5, 2003
GCC Countries: From Oil Dependence to Diversification
Description: This paper presents an overview of the unprecedented economic and social transformation witnessed by the member countries of the Cooperation Council of the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC)-Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates-over the last three decades.
September 5, 2003
Creating Employment in the Middle East and North Africa
Description: The population of the Middle East and North Africa is one of the fastest growing in the world, but jobs have not grown as fast as the region’s workforce. This paper addresses questions such as"Can current GDP growth generate more employment, or will higher GDP growth be required?"and "Will the current pattern of job creation-with much of the region’s workforce employed by the public sector-need to change?"