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Europe > Latvia, Republic of

You are looking at 1 - 10 of 13 items for :

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Cover IMF Working Papers
Banks’ Adjustment to Basel III Reform: A Bank-Level Perspective for Emerging Europe
Michal Andrle
,
Vladimír Tomšík
, and
Mr. Jan Vlcek
The paper seeks to identify strategies of commercial banks in response to higher capital requirements of Basel III reform and its phase-in. It focuses on a sample of nine EU emerging market countries and picks up 5 largest banks in each country assessing their response. The paper finds that all banking sectors raised CAR ratios mainly through retained earnings. In countries where the banking sector struggled with profitability, banks have resorted to issuance of new equity or shrunk the size of their balance sheets to meet the higher capital-adequacy requirements. Worries echoed at the early stage of Basel III compilation, namely that commercial banks would shrink their balance sheet by reducing their lending to meet stricter capital requirements, did materialize only in banks struggling with profitability.
Keywords:
WP; bank; net income; balance sheet; asset; capital adequacy; Basel III; banking sector assets; cost of capital; capital adequacy ratio dynamics; increase in capital capital ratio; balance sheet growth; CAR decomposition; Income; Capital adequacy requirements; Commercial banks; Financial statements; Stocks; Europe; Baltics; Global
Cover Staff Discussion Notes
Tax Biases to Debt Finance: Assessing the Problem, Finding Solutions
Ruud A. de Mooij
Staff Discussion Notes showcase the latest policy-related analysis and research being developed by individual IMF staff and are published to elicit comment and to further debate. These papers are generally brief and written in nontechnical language, and so are aimed at a broad audience interested in economic policy issues. This Web-only series replaced Staff Position Notes in January 2011.
Keywords:
SDN; CIT rate; debt issuance; income tax; cost of capital; debt-equity choice; intracompany debt; debt holder; debt-asset ratio; debt level; pre-existing debt; Debt bias; Corporate income tax; Allowance for corporate equity; Comprehensive business income tax; Stocks; Europe
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Republic of Estonia: Staff Report for the 2010 Article IV Consultation
International Monetary Fund
Despite enduring one of the sharpest contractions in the EU, Estonia has been successful in its all-out efforts to join the euro area. Core prices have also begun increasing but at a moderate rate. Recent wage increases have defied not only high unemployment but also increases in vacancies and long-term unemployment. Executive Directors welcomed the authorities’ medium-term goal of returning to budget surpluses to restore fiscal reserves and keep public debt at low levels. Directors observed that the financial sector had weathered the crisis relatively well.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; Estonia; economy; Eurozone membership; core inflation; inflation risk; inflation expectation; competitiveness gain; Financial derivatives; Income; Loans; Global; Baltics
Cover Policy Papers
Review of Fund Facilities-Analytical Basis for Fund Lending and Reform Options
International Monetary Fund
In the context of the ongoing review of Fund facilities, this paper examines the analytical basis for Fund lending in emerging market countries and provides a broad-ranging perspective for reforming the General Resources Account (GRA) lending toolkit. The Fund’s important lending role in crisis prevention and resolution is buttressed by its unique characteristics: (i) its ability as a nonatomistic lender to provide large-scale financing and reduce the likelihood of a run by private creditors; (ii) its ability as a cooperative institution with near-universal membership to agree conditionality with members, thus providing national authorities with a policy commitment tool to underpin confidence and catalyze private lending; and (iii) its de facto preferred creditor status, which allows it to provide crisis financing when private creditors may be reluctant to lend.
Keywords:
PP; Fund financing; Fund lending; Fund resource; private sector; Fund crisis lending; commitment fee; prevention instrument; Crisis prevention; Capital account crisis; Balance of payments need; Crisis resolution; Options; Global
Cover Perspectives économiques régionales
Perspectives économiques régionales
Europe : Renforcer les systèmes financiers, novembre 2007
International Monetary Fund. European Dept.

Abstract

Une situation foncièrement saine devrait permettre à l’économie européenne de supporter sans trop de mal les turbulences financières actuelles. Les prévisions laissent néanmoins entrevoir un tassement du rythme de croissance dans presque tous les pays de la région en 2008. Les dirigeants devront s'attaquer résolument aux turbulences des marchés financiers tout en assainissant les finances publiques et en mettant en œuvre des réformes structurelles, notamment dans le secteur financier, afin de pallier les vulnérabilités, de relever les perspectives de croissance à moyen terme et de réaliser la convergence promise dans les pays émergents d'Europe. Trois chapitres analytiques abordent les réformes visant à renforcer les systèmes financiers de l'Europe afin de permettre aux pays avancés de tirer parti de l'innovation sans encourir de risques excessifs, et aux pays émergents de gérer le développement rapide du secteur financier et de renforcer encore les systèmes financiers.

Keywords:
REO; market; economy; financial system; Europe's financial systems; market liquidity
Cover Regional Economic Outlook, November 2007
Regional Economic Outlook, November 2007
Europe: Strengthening Financial Systems
International Monetary Fund. European Dept.

Abstract

Strong fundamentals should allow Europe to weather financial turbulence relatively well. Nonetheless, growth is set to ease in 2008 in nearly all countries. Policymakers will need to deal up front with the financial market turmoil, while implementing fiscal consolidation and structural reforms, including in the financial sector, to address vulnerabilities, raise medium-term growth prospects, and deliver on the promise of convergence for emerging Europe. Three analytical chapters discuss reforms to strengthen Europe's financial systems to allow advanced economies to benefit from innovation without incurring excessive risk and, in emerging economies, to manage rapid financial deepening and develop financial systems further.

Keywords:
REO; market; economy; financial system; Europe's financial systems; market liquidity
Cover Regional Economic Outlook, November 2007, Europe
Regional Economic Outlook, November 2007, Europe
Strengthening Financial Systems
International Monetary Fund. European Dept.

Abstract

Strong fundamentals should allow Europe to weather financial turbulence relatively well. Nonetheless, growth is set to ease in 2008 in nearly all countries. Policymakers will need to deal up front with the financial market turmoil, while implementing fiscal consolidation and structural reforms, including in the financial sector, to address vulnerabilities, raise medium-term growth prospects, and deliver on the promise of convergence for emerging Europe. Three analytical chapters discuss reforms to strengthen Europe's financial systems to allow advanced economies to benefit from innovation without incurring excessive risk and, in emerging economies, to manage rapid financial deepening and develop financial systems further.

Keywords:
REO; market; economy; financial system; Europe's financial systems; market liquidity; emerging economies in Europe need; resilience of the financial system; securitization product; subprime mortgage; market participant; resilience of financial systems; Financial sector development; Securities markets; Credit; Government securities; Stock markets; Europe; Baltics; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Euro Area Policies: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund
This Selected Issues paper on Euro Area Policies reviews the integration of Europe’s financial markets and the challenges faced by the new European Union member states with respect to euro adoption. Markets in the Financial Instruments Directive are expected to become applicable in November 2007. The Directive injects new competition among financial intermediaries at all steps of a security’s transaction cycle, from the provision of investment advice to the practical execution and settlement of the transaction, and thus holds the promise to accelerate Europe’s apparently sluggish financial sector productivity growth.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; market; MiFID; market participant; market intermediary; market activity; market data gathering; market efficiency; market liquidity; London market; Inflation; Competition; Exchange rates; Stock markets; Baltics; Europe; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Republic of Estonia: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund
This paper assesses Estonia’s flexibility from two angles. The paper focuses on one aspect of that performance—the ability to sustain competitiveness. Then, a more forward-looking angle is the flexibility of Estonia’s labor and product markets. Estonia has made great progress in achieving real convergence in the last decade. Current account deficits are integral to convergence. A key question raised by this analysis is whether the large external imbalances and the counterpart buildup in external obligations will be smoothly reversed.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; private sector; Estonia; nonbank; nonbank private sector; currency board arrangement; foreign currency; asset position; net foreign exchange liability position; macroeconomic stability; Currencies; Nonbank financial institutions; Financial statements; Exports; Foreign currency exposure; Baltics; Central and Eastern Europe; Eastern Europe
Cover IMF Working Papers
Determinants of Commercial Bank Performance in Transition: An Application of Data Envelopment Analysis
Mr. David A. Grigorian
and
Mr. Vlad Manole
Banking sectors in transition economies have experienced major transformations throughout the 1990s. While some countries have been successful in eliminating underlying distortions and restructuring their financial sectors, in some cases financial sectors remain underdeveloped and the rates of financial intermediation continue to be low. We estimate indicators of commercial bank efficiency by applying a version of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to bank-level data from a wide range of transition countries. In addition to stressing the importance of some bank-specific variables, the censored Tobit analysis suggests that (1) foreign ownership with controlling power and enterprise restructuring enhances commercial bank efficiency; (2) the effects of prudential tightening on the efficiency of banks vary across different prudential norms; and (3) consolidation is likely to improve the efficiency of banking operations. Overall, the results confirm the usefulness of DEA for transition-related applications and shed some light on the question of the optimal architecture of a banking system.
Keywords:
WP; rule of law affect bank-efficiency indicator; bank efficiency; banking sector; EBRD enterprise restructuring index; Banking sector development; economies in transition; intermediation function; productivity indicator; bank performance; branch network; Commercial banks; Foreign banks; Nonbank financial institutions; Financial sector development; Loans; Europe; Baltics