Books

November 4, 1996

Building on Progress: Reform and Growth in the Middle East and North Africa

Description: Countries in the Middle East and North Africa region have unprecedented opportunities for transforming their economies through accelerated economic growth, but the countries themselves must ensure the necessary conditions. This study, by the Middle Eastern Department, focuses on four areas that are fundamental to growth-enhancing structural changes: improving the region's investment performance, fiscal reform, financial sector reform, and trade liberalization.

September 26, 1996

The Future of the SDR in Light of Changes in the International Monetary System

Description: This book edited by Michael Mussa, James M. Boughton, and Peter Isard, records the proceedings of a seminar held at the IMF in March 1996 on the future of the special drawing right (SDR), given changes in the international monetary system since the inception of the SDR. The seminar focuses on the differences in opinion in the international community on the desirability or feasibility of an additional allocation of SDRs.

September 16, 1996

Bank Soundness and Macroeconomic Policy

Description: Banking sector problems have plagued over 130 of the IMF's member countries since 1980. Developing and industrial market economies alike have been affected, as have all the economies in transition. This volume, by Carl-Johan Lindgren, Gillian Garcia, and Matthew I. Saal, discusses the linkages between macroeconomic policy and bank soundness. It takes a global view of the causes and consequences of banking sector problems and discussses how the banking system can be strengthened, nationally and internationally.

August 30, 1996

Coordinated Portfolio Investment Survey Guide

Description: The coordinated Portfolio Investment Survey Guide is provided to assist balance of payments compilers in the conduct of an internationally coordinated survey of security holdings being conducted under the auspices of the IMF with reference to year-end 1997. The Guide has two main purposes: to set out the objectives of the Coordinated Survey; and to provide practical advice on how to prepare, organize, and conduct a national survey. The appendices include three model survey forms, a glossary of security terms, a listing of the major security databases that national compilers may find useful in their work, and a method for reconciling security position and transactions data.

August 23, 1996

Tax Law Design and Drafting, Volume 1

Description: Edited by Victor Thuronyi, this book offers an introduction to a broad range of issues in comparative tax law and is based on comparative discussion of the tax laws of developed countries. It presents practical models and guidelines for drafting tax legislation that can be used by officials of developing and transition countries. Volume I covers general issues, some special topics, and major taxes other than income tax.

Notes: See Volume 2

June 24, 1996

Inflation and Growth in China

Description: The linkage between inflation and economic growth has been the subject of considerable interest and debate. The 18 papers included in this volume comprise the proceedings of a conference on inflation and growth in China that brought together academics, officials and IMF staff members. The papers edited by Manuel Guitián and Robert Mundell, examine issues in international exeperiences with inflation and growth, long-run and short-run structural problems related tgo growth and inflation in China, and the framework in which monetary, fiscal, and exchange rate policies are formulated in China.

Notes: Proceedings of a conference held in Beijing, China, May 10-12, 1995.

June 20, 1996

The Uruguay Round and the Arab Countries

Description: The benefits and challenges of the liberalization measures encompassed under the Uruguay Round were the subject of aseminar sponsored by the IMF, the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, the Arab Monetary Fund, and the World Bank. The papers presented in this publication, edited by Said El-Naggar, review the results of the Uruguay Round, examine the broad policy and macroeconomic implications of trade reform for the Arab countries, and consider certain of the sectoral trade reform measures - including trade in agricultural product, textiles and clothing, and services- embodied in the Uruguay Round agreement and their impact on the Arab countries.

June 15, 1996

International Monetary Cooperation Since Bretton Woods

Description: This comprehensive history, published jointly by the IMF and Oxford University Press, was written to mark the fiftieth anniversary of international monetary cooperation. From the establishment of the postwar international monetary system in 1944 to how the framework functions in a vastly expanded world economy, historian Harol James describes the tensions, negotiations, challenges, and progress of international monetary cooperation. This narrative offers a global perspective on the events and decisions that have shaped the world economy during the past fifty years.

June 14, 1996

Macroeconomics and the Environment

Description: Microeconomic policies, dealing with individual industries and economic sectors, have traditionally addressed environmental concerns, but increasingly the environment is being viewed in terms of the macro economy. To improve its understanding of the interrelationship between macroeconomics and the environment, the IMF held a seminar in May 1995 at which recognized experts from academic and research institutions, nongovernmental organizations, and staff from the World Bank and the IMF shared their views on how macroeconomic policies affect the environment and how environmental policies affect the macro economy. The present volume, edited by Ved P. Gandhi, contains the papers and proceedings of this seminar.

May 26, 1996

Financial Programming and Policy: The Case of Sri Lanka

Description: This book, by a staff team in the IMF Institute, contains a series of workshops that introduce the process of formulating a hypothetical macroeconomic and structural adjustment program, which is a central element in the financial programming courses offered by the IMF Institute. In addition to elaborating key concepts for the four major sectoral accounts, the workshops are designed to allow the development of a step by step reference scenario for Sri Lanka.