Financial Flows to Africa
How Can Sub-Saharan Africa Attract More Private Capital Inflows?
Amar Bhattacharya, Peter J. Montiel, and Sunil Sharma
International private capital has largely bypassed sub-Saharan Africa. But this fact masks significant differences among countries. What accounts for these differences, and what actions can sub-Saharan countries take to attract more private capital?
Financial Liberalization in Africa and Asia
Huw Pill and Mahmood Pradhan
Asian countries have generally been more successful than African countries in liberalizing their financial systems. Why have their outcomes differed? Asia's experience with liberalization offers some useful lessons for Africa.
Rural Energy
Tackling the Rural Energy Problem in Developing Countries
Douglas F. Barnes, Robert van der Plas, and Willem Floor
Many people in the developing world lack access to energy sources such as oil, gas, and electricity, and still depend on biomass. The problems of supplying them with modern fuels appear daunting, but practical and financially sustainable solutions exist.
Guest Article
Japan's Economy Needs Structural Change
Takatoshi Ito
Japan's economic miracle appears to be waning. Structural changes are needed to put the economy on a reasonably high growth path once again.
Also in this Issue
Growth and the Environment: Allies or Foes?
Vinod Thomas and Tamara Belt
Newly industrializing economies have shown the way to high growth and rapid poverty reduction, but at the expense of severe environmental losses. This experience shows that the challenges of growth and the environment must be addressed simultaneously.
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The Reform of Wholesale Payment Systems
David Folkerts-Landau, Peter Garber, and Dirk Schoenmaker
Central and commercial banks in the major industrial countries are combining efforts to reduce the risks inherent in the world's wholesale payment systems. These reforms are beneficial, but could have an adverse impact on the liquidity of financial markets.
Creditors' Crucial Role in Corporate Governance
Cheryl W. Gray
Effective debt monitoring and collection play a crucial role in corporate governance in market economies and require adequate information, creditor incentives, and an appropriate legal framework.
Interest Rates: An Approach to Liberalization
Hassanali Mehran and Bernard Laurens
Interest rate liberalization may not produce the expected benefits if the timing, pace, and sequencing are off. These should be determined by the degree of macroeconomic stability, conditions in the banking and state enterprise sectors, and the central bank's capabilities.
Improving India's Saving Performance
Martin M�hleisen
One of the prerequisites for putting India on a high growth path is a substantial rise in domestic saving. This will require tighter fiscal policies and strong structural reforms, including liberalization of financial markets.
Islamic Financial Systems
Zamir Iqbal
Islamic finance is emerging as a rapidly growing part of the financial sector in the Islamic world. Islamic finance is not restricted to Islamic countries, but is spreading wherever there is a sizable Muslim community. |
Departments
Letter from the Editor
World Economy in Transition
Bias in the US Consumer Price Index: Why It Could Be Important
Paul A. Armknecht and Paula R. De Masi
Global Financing Trends
Developing Countries Get More Private Investment, Less Aid
Development Focus
Education and Health Care in the Caribbean
Vinaya Swaroop
Readers' Comments
Books
The Banking Panics of the Great Depression by Elmus Wicker
reviewed by James M. Boughton
The Foreign Aid Business: Economic Assistance and Development Co-operation by Kunibert Raffer and H.W. Singer
reviewed by David Dollar
The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order by Samuel P. Huntington
reviewed by Ke-young Chu
Fifty Years of Bretton Woods Twins (IMF and World Bank) by S.L.N. Simha
reviewed by Margaret Garritsen de Vries
Institutions for Environmental Aid: Pitfalls and Promise, edited by Robert O. Keohane and Marc A. Levy
reviewed by David Freestone
Central Banking in Developing Countries by Anand Chandavarkar
reviewed by Manuel Guiti�n
Against the Tide: An Intellectual History of Free Trade by Douglas A. Irwin
reviewed by J.M. Finger
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