This Selected Issues paper and Statistical Appendix focuses on two analytical approaches for judging whether the current account for Australia is sustainable. The paper implements the first approach, by asking how Australia’s net external liability position is likely to evolve over time, based on assumptions of future growth and interest rates. The paper implements the second approach by exploring the implications of a model of optimal external borrowing and lending. The main conclusions are also discussed in the paper.
This paper analyzes several issues regarding fiscal sustainability and fiscal adjustment in Brazil during 1990 and searches for econometric evidence of a monetary dominant regime during some subperiods. The following statistical data are also presented in detail: macroeconomic flows and balances, industrial production, consumer price index, relative public sector prices and tariffs, minimum wage statistics, financial system loans, monetary aggregates, exports by principal commodity groups, direction of trade, detailed balance of payments, total external debt, central government operations, and so on.
HOW can central banks best establish the credibility of monetary policy? Devising a transparent framework for monetary policy, this article suggests, may be an effective way to achieve this.
This paper explores the factors that have led to a Canada-U.S. productivity gap using a sectoral growth accounting approach. Both fiscal and monetary policies have had significant effects on the saving rate. The Canadian dollar’s appreciation was followed by a protracted period of exchange rate weakness. This paper reviews the institutional aspects of Canada’s real return bond program. The Canadian system provides a successful model for pension reform. Free trade has helped promote the integration of U.S. and Canadian economies, but significant differences remain.