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Business and Economics > Finance: General

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Cover IMF Working Papers
Private Participation and its Discontents: Insights from Large-Scale Surveys
Silvia Albrizio
,
Hippolyte W. Balima
,
Bertrand Gruss
,
Eric Huang
, and
Colombe Ladreit
This paper investigates public attitudes toward product market regulation (PMR) reforms aimed at fostering private participation and competition in two network sectors—electricity and telecommunications. Despite the benefits of such reforms, including enhanced productivity and lower prices, they often face significant public resistance. We conduct large-scale surveys of 6,300 individuals in three emerging market and developing economies (Mexico, Morocco, and South Africa) to analyze the role of socioeconomic characteristics, beliefs, and perceptions in shaping support for PMR reforms. Our findings reveal that individual beliefs and perceptions, particularly those related to how policies work and market economy views, are major predictors of reform support. Randomized information treatments show that raising awareness about the costs of the status quo and the benefits of PMR reforms significantly increases public support. Among initially skeptical individuals, societal concerns play a larger role in respondents’ reasons for nonsupport, consistent with models of social preferences. However, offering tailored complementary and compensatory measures can further enhance support among those skeptical individuals.
Keywords:
Product market reforms; political economy; perceptions; survey; experiment; PMR reform; reform support; market economy view; policy support; market economy; Electricity; Competition; Commodity markets; Emerging and frontier financial markets; Africa
Cover Policy Papers
Review of the Flexible Credit Line, The Short Term Liquidity Line and the Precautionary and Liquidity Line, and Proposals for Reform
International Monetary Fund. Strategy, Policy, & Review Department
The Fund’s precautionary toolkit rests on the simple proposition that facilitating crisis prevention is far less costly than crisis resolution. Its value increases with systemic risk. Serial shocks to the global trading and financial systems pose significant and persistent headwinds for well-integrated emerging markets. An adequately funded global financial safety net (GFSN) with a suite of precautionary tools allows qualifying members to respond to balance of payments (BoP) shocks, reducing the incidence of crises and limiting contagion. The Fund is the only layer of the GFSN available to all members; other layers vary in their availability and externalities. In this context, the overarching objective of this review of the Flexible Credit Line (FCL), Short-term Liquidity Line (SLL), and Precautionary and Liquidity Line (PLL) is to ensure that the precautionary facilities toolkit (henceforth “the toolkit”) is fit for purpose for the challenges ahead.
Keywords:
Flexible Credit Line (FCL); Short-term Liquidity Line (SLL); Precautionary and Liquidity Line (PLL); Global Financial Safety Net (GFSN); PLL qualification assessment; FCL arrangement; SLL reform package; qualification assessment; FCL user; SLL access; SLL instrument; SLL Arrangements; Balance of payments need; Anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT); Liquidity; Debt sustainability; Global; Western Hemisphere
Cover Finance & Development
Finance & Development, September 2023
International Monetary Fund. Communications Department
Finance & Development, September 2023
Keywords:
UN medium-fertility scenario; IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings; climate debt; IMF photo; Mars mission project manager; Climate change; Climate finance; Greenhouse gas emissions; Remittances; Artificial intelligence; Global; Middle East; North Africa; Africa; East Africa
Cover Policy Papers
FY2024-FY2026 Medium-Term Budget
International Monetary Fund. Office of Budget and Planning
FY2024-FY2026 Medium-Term Budget
Keywords:
budget framework; administrative budget; external funding; capital budget; A. budget overview; management fee; augmentation framework; Medium-Term capital budget; Budget planning and preparation; Budget execution and treasury management; Digital currencies; Global
Cover Policy Papers
The Managing Director's Global Policy Agenda, Spring Meetings 2023: Safeguard Economic Stability, Support Vulnerable Countries, Sustain Our Future Prosperity
International Monetary Fund
The global economy is at another highly uncertain moment: tentative signs of stabilization earlier this year have receded, and the outlook is increasingly risky and uncertain. At the same time, divisions within and across countries are deepening, exacerbated by rising fragmentation. Strong policy action is needed together with pragmatic approaches to find areas of common ground to respond to shared challenges. The IMF is proactively engaging with our members to chart a clear course to a stronger and more sustainable path for the global economy.
Keywords:
support vulnerable country; Policy agenda; spring meetings 2023; future prosperity; vulnerable country; Financial sector stability; Climate change; Inflation; Global
Cover Policy Papers
The Central Bank Transparency Code—Findings Of The Pilot Reviews
International Monetary Fund. Monetary and Capital Markets Department
This paper reports to the Executive Board on the outcomes of the Central Bank Transparency Code (CBT) pilot reviews. The pilot CBT reviews helped central banks evaluate their transparency practices and strengthen dialogue with external stakeholders. The CBT pilots provided valuable information on the resources required for the reviews going forward. Staff will continue to offer CBT reviews to the rest of the membership. The staff will report back to the Board in FY2026 on the progress of the CBT reviews and an update to the Code following five years of implementation.
Keywords:
CBT review; transparency practice; central bank Transparency Code; CBT Pilots; guidance note; Central bank transparency; Financial sector stability; Central bank autonomy; Financial Sector Assessment Program; Central bank accountability; Western Hemisphere; Global; Middle East and Central Asia
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Morocco: Central Bank Transparency Code Review
International Monetary Fund. Monetary and Capital Markets Department
The Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM) has implemented expanded and comprehensive transparency practices in a number of areas, notably related to the primary mandate of price stability and the shared mandate of financial stability. This reflects the BAM’s public commitment to transparency anchored in the new 2019 BAM Law and articulated as a strategic orientation under the quinquennial plan for 2019-2023. This level of transparency enabled the BAM to gain the noteworthy trust of the stakeholders met by the mission and to safeguard its autonomy.
Keywords:
IMF central bank transparency code; IMF mission; bank-Al Maghrib; staff team of the International Monetary Fund; production assistance; Exchange rate arrangements; Exchange rate policy; Financial sector stability; Revenue administration transparency and accountability; Maghreb; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
IMF’s Precautionary Lending Instruments: Have They Worked?
Giulio Lisi
The paper documents the benefits provided by IMF’s precautionary instruments (FCL and PLL) to countries in accessing international financial markets. It builds on multiple methods to show that the announcement of new FCL or PLL generally leads to a significant decline in sovereign spreads. Next, it evaluates the role of the FCL and PLL in mitigating external financial pressures, focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic as a case study. Economies which had a PLL or FCL arrangement in place during the pandemic experienced a lower increase in spreads relative to other emerging markets, even after controlling for country-specific effects and other covariates, suggesting that these arrangements help cushion external shocks. Finally, the study asks whether FCL/PLL drawdowns have an impact on financial perceptions; the analysis finds—albeit on the basis of a very small sample— no evidence of downside effects from countries drawing down on these arrangements .
Keywords:
IMF; Precautionary instruments; Event studies; Synthetic control.; PLL drawdown; precautionary lending instrument; fcl arrangement; precautionary instrument; PLL adopter; COVID-19; Emerging and frontier financial markets; Oil prices; Credit default swap; Sovereign bonds; Global
Cover Promoting Inclusive Growth in the Middle East and North Africa
Promoting Inclusive Growth in the Middle East and North Africa
Challenges and Opportunities in a Post-Pandemic World

Abstract

Despite some pre-pandemic gains in poverty reduction, literacy, and lifespans, many economies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have struggled to ensure that the benefits of economic development and diversification accrue equitably to all segments of their populations. Among the main issues that remain unresolved are the high share of inactive youth (who are not engaged in employment, education, or training); large gaps in economic opportunities for women; fragmented social protection systems; and underdeveloped private sectors with tight regulation, absence of a level playing field, and limited access to credit that stifle the creation of new firms and growth, employment, and incomes. The COVID-19 pandemic not only risks wiping out some of the progress made in the region over the past decades, but could also exacerbate inequality in a durable way. There is evidence that the impact of the pandemic has been uneven across groups, with the recession having a disproportionate effect on the low-skilled, the young, women, and migrant workers in employment and incomes. With widespread inequality, high unemployment, and the expected entry of 27 million young people into the labor force over the next 10 years, countries across the MENA region need to evolve their economic models to boost job creation and make sure that the benefits of economic development are shared more widely among all their citizens. This book’s objective is to reassess the inclusive growth agenda in the MENA region in light of the rapidly changing pandemic-influenced world. It argues that countries need to embrace global trade and technological advances and evolving demographics at home as an opportunity to successfully implement policies that foster higher and more inclusive growth. It underscores that a return to the old social contract is neither desirable nor feasible. The book presents a comprehensive view of policies suited to the regional context that would boost job-rich and inclusive growth within a resilient macroeconomic policy framework. Its goal is to provide guidance to policymakers in the region to frame how best to promote inclusive growth, including in their engagement with all stakeholders.

Keywords:
inequality; inclusive growth; gender; job creation; private sector development; MENA; climate change; SOE; financial inclusion; future of work; MENA region; MENA country; IMF staff calculation; MENAP country; MENA policymaker; Labor markets; Middle East; North Africa; East Africa; Caribbean; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Digitalization and Resilience: Firm-level Evidence During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Nordine Abidi
,
Mehdi El Herradi
, and
Sahra Sakha
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an unprecedented shock to firms with adverse consequences for existing productive capacities. At the same time, digitalization has increasingly been touted as a key pathway for mitigating economic losses from the pandemic, and we expect firms facing digital constraints to be less resilient to supply shocks. This paper uses firm-level data to investigate whether digitally-enabled firms have been able to mitigate economic losses arising from the pandemic better than digitally-constrained firms in the Middle East and Central Asia region using a difference-in-differences approach. Controlling for demand conditions, we find that digitally-enabled firms faced a lower decline in sales by about 4 percentage points during the pandemic compared to digitally-constrained firms, suggesting that digitalization acted as a hedge during the pandemic. Against this backdrop, our results suggest that policymakers need to close the digital gap and accelerate firms’ digital transformation. This will be essential for economies to bounce back from the pandemic, and build the foundations for future resilience.
Keywords:
COVID-19; digitalization; technology adoption; economic resilience; Middle East and Central Asia; digitally-enabled firm; digitally-constrained firm; firms in the Middle East; firm-level data; digital transformation; Digitalization; Financial inclusion; Foreign corporations; Asia and Pacific; Africa; Middle East; North Africa