Books
1997
May 1, 1997
Central Bank Reform in the Transition Economies
Description: Since 1992, the central banks of the Baltic states and the Commonwealth of Independent States have undertaken comprehensive reform of their monetary and exchange arrangements in support of their stabilization efforts. Their efforts have been supported by extensive technical assistance provided by the IMF and 23 central banks. This book edited by V. Sundararajan, Arne B. Peterson, and Gabriel Sensenbrenner, contains the background papers prepared for the second joint coordinating meeting of participants. That meeting focused on the progress of structural reforms in central banking and bank restructuring and identified priorities for the deepening of reforms. The book documents the remarkable progress achieved by the Baltic and CIS central banks and the catalytic role they have played in financial market development.
April 15, 1997
Trade Policy Issues
Description: This book edited by Chorng-Huey Wong and Naheed Kirmani, examines a wide range of trade policy issues relevant in the 1990s that were the subject of a seminar organized by the IMF in 1996. The topics include the design and implementation of trade reform, trade liberalization in industrial and transition economies, regional trading arrangements, the impact of the Uruguay Round, the role of the World Trade Organization, and post Uruguay Round issues.
April 15, 1997
Coordinating Public Debt and Monetary Management
Description: Edited by V. Sundararajan, Peter Dattels, and Hans Blommestein, this volume outlines strategies for managing public debt, developing government securities markets, and coordinating those activities with monetary management through legal, administrative, and operational arrangements. Both transition and market economies are surveyed. The analysis draws partly on the literature on the microstructure of markets and auction systems and on selected country experiences.
April 11, 1997
The Social Effects of Economic Adjustment on Arab Countries
Description: The papers presented in this volume edited by Taher H. Kanaan - the eighth in a series of seminars sponsored by the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, the Arab Monetary Fund, the IMF, and the World Bank - explore the relationship between economic reforms, growth, employment, and social sector performance. Topics discussed include the political and social dimensions of policies privatization in the social sectors, social safety nets, poverty and the poor, and women, poverty, and population growth.
April 3, 1997
Current Legal Issues Affecting Central Banks, Volume IV.: Volume IV.
Description: This volume, edited by Robert C. Effros, surveys developments at international financial institutions, regional developments affecting central banks, the progress of the European Union countries toward monetary union and a unified banking market, the effect of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and the World Trade Organization on banking services, and the implications of the North American Free Trade Agreement for central banks. Other topics discussed include banking regulation and reform in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, countries of the former Soviet Union, and China; banking supervision; the role of deposit insurance; bankruptcy policy; derivatives; securitization; payments systems; securities transfers; and capital standards for market risk. Appendices reproduce relevant legal documentation.
February 28, 1997
Recent Economic Developments, Prospects, and Progress in Institution Building in the West Bank and Gaza Strip
Description: Since the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Governing Arrangements between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel, which outlined the gradual future transfer of responsibility to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the IMF has provided a wide range of technical assistance to the Palestinian Authority. This publication, by the Middle Eastern Department, reviews economic and institution building developments in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1996 and assesses briefly the prospects for 1997. Individual chapters describe fiscal, monetary, and external developments; trade policy; and IMF technical assistance.
February 19, 1997
Ukraine: Accelerating the Transition to Market
Description: Ukraine has made impressive progress in restructuring and stabilizing its economy over the past two years, and yet much remains to be done to revive output and establish a market economy. The 16 papers included in this volume, edited by Peter K. Cornelius and Patrick Lenain, were presented at a seminar sponsored by the IMF and the World Bank in July 1996, which brought together government officials, academics, and staffs of international organizations to discuss a comprehensive medium- term strategy for Ukraine. The papers cover the medium-term macroeconomic framework; wages, poverty, and social safety net reform; private sector development; trade policies and sectoral reforms; and institution building and good governance.
January 28, 1997
Economic Policies and Unemployment Dynamics in Europe
Description: This book, edited by S.G.B. Henry and Dennis J. Snower, examines the high unemployment that has plagued five European countries- France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom- for more than a decade. Its methodology focuses on the mechanisms that prevent employers and employees from adjusting promptly to changing market opportunities. Chief among these mechanisms are outdated economic structures, the power of labor unions, rising nonwage labor costs, and the disparity between unemployed workers and available jobs. Although cross-country differences indicate that there is no common cause for joblessness in Europe, the book discusses a unique characteristic of the European labor market- that unemployment not only rises during recessions, but does not fall when economic weaknesses are overcome.
1996
December 30, 1996
Interest Rate Liberalization and Money Market Development
Description: This book by Hassanali Mehran, Bernard Laurens, and Marc Quintyn brings together the papers presented at a seminar held in Beijing, China, in August 1995 and sponsored jointly by the IMF's Monetary and Exchange Affairs Department and the Poeple's Bank of China. The papers were written by central bankers from China, Italy, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, and Turkey. The Chinese authorities were specifically interested in learning more about the Italian and Turkish models of interbank markets and in the experiences of neighboring Asian countries with interest rate liberalization. The U.S. experience was also presented, and the introduction to the book draws policy lessons from the experiences presented at the seminar.
November 5, 1996
Currency Convertibility in the Middle East and North Africa
Description: Currency convertibility is a far-reaching instrument to facilitate integration into the global economy. With it a country can gain the benefits of increased freedom in capital movements and of fostering trade and financial linkages worldwide. A seminar sponsored by the Arab Monetary Fund and the IMF, held in Marrakesh, Morocco, discussed the theoretical and empirical aspects of currency convertibility in the Arab countries. The volume, edited by Manuel Guitián and Saleh M. Nsouli, reproduces the papers presented at the seminar.