Other Statistical Electronic Products

March 15, 2000

A Study Guide to The Fabric of Reform

Description: This guide is designed to facilitate classroom use of The Fabric of Reform, a 30-minute educational video created by the International Monetary Fund. It is intended for use with students in economics and international relations courses at the secondary and postsecondary levels.

March 6, 2000

The IMF and Human Development: A Dialogue with Civil Society

Description: During his tenure as Managing Director of the IMF, and in his interactions with civil society, Michel Camdessus was asked many questions related to the IMF's role in development. This pamphlet collects questions frequently asked by civil society around the world and the responses given by Mr. Camdessus that help to clarify the IMF position on human development.

September 24, 1999

From Crisis to a New Recovery: Excerpts from Selected Addresses by Michel Camdessus

Description: Excerpts from selected addresses by Michael Camdessus

September 24, 1999

Research Activities of the IMF, January 1991-December 1998

Description: A selective index of major research papers prepared by IMF staff in 1991-98.

September 23, 1999

Integration and Growth in a Globalized World Economy

Description: This paper presents four commentaries by an IMF Deputy Managing Director on integration and growth in a globalized world economy. Globalized and integrated financial markets are the norm, complete with their tremendous opportunities—the chance to quicken the pace of investment, job creation, and growth—and, some inevitable risks. The paper also highlights that sound macroeconomic policies must be a top priority, and that these policies must be supported by transparency and accountability. Policies at the country and global level must be mutually reinforcing; industrial countries meeting the more outward-oriented policies of developing countries with greater openness around the world. It is recommended that the IMF agenda must include adopting bold structural reforms and building a social consensus for reform through economic security, good governance, and a better dialogue with civil society in Africa. In the Berlin address, it is suggested that development rests on three pillars: good economic policy, a favorable legal and political environment, and attention to equitable social development.

October 1, 1998

Navigating Stormy, Uncharted Waters

Description: This paper explains various challenges posed by the new global economy for the IMF. The urgent tasks of restoring stability to crisis-ridden countries have been accompanied by other more far-reaching questions. The five speeches included in this collection cover a broad range of activities and thinking over the past year. The themes range from immediate crisis management to the broad questions of a new architecture for the global economy; and from the specific concerns of individual countries and regions to the conditions for a strong and equitable world economy. One of the speeches, delivered in September 1998, steps back from prevailing worldwide market turbulence, seeking lessons from the crises, and stressing that conditions vary extensively among emerging economies. Clear, calm analysis is essential by market participants to differentiate among economies. Another speech sets out initial thoughts not just on the key elements of a new financial architecture, however, also on the role that can be played by each constituency in the world economy.

Notes: See also: Speeches by IMF Management and other Senior Staff

July 28, 1998

IMF and the Environment

Description: In recent years, observers have called on the IMF to pay closer attention to certain issues that do not fall directly within its mandate, such as the environment. This booklet reviews IMF's approach to environmental issues and when and how the IMF integrates environmental concerns into its work.

May 23, 1996

Policy Challenges in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries

Description: The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries face important policy challenges and opportunities. This paper covers the economic developments and policies since 1980; the impact of the GCC's external environment; the medium-term economic prospects; the broad outlines of a common adjustment and reform strategy, and the implications of adjustment in the GCC countries on the rest of the Middle East and North Africa region.

December 15, 1995

External Assistance and Policies for Growth in Africa

Description: This booklet is a collection of papers presented at a seminar on policies for growth in Africa, held in Paris in February 1995 and sponsored by the Ministry of Finance of Japan. The seminar focused on four broad themes: how to enable the private sector to play a lead role in the growth process in Africa; how to boost domestic savings and help the financial sector to contribute to the mobilization and efficient us of resources; how to facilitate foreign aid and make it more effective; and, what are the essential elements of sound debt management practices?

Notes: Papers presented at a seminar held in Paris, February 13-14, 1995, organized by the International Monetary Fund and the Ministry of Finance of Japan. Published jointly by the International Monetary Fund and the Ministry of Finance of Japan.

June 1, 1995

The IMF and the World Bank: How Do They Differ?

Description: This paper discusses how the IMF and the World Bank differ from each other. The IMF is small and, unlike the World Bank, has no affiliates or subsidiaries. Most IMF staff members work at headquarters in Washington, D.C., although three small offices are maintained in Paris, Geneva, and at the United Nations in New York. Its professional staff members are for the most part economists and financial experts. The World Bank is an investment bank, intermediating between investors and recipients, borrowing from the one and lending to the other. The structure of the World Bank is somewhat more complex compared with the IMF.

Notes: English version revised 1995.