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Social Science > Demography

You are looking at 1 - 10 of 23 items for :

  • Type: Journal Issue x
  • Monetary Systems; Standards; Regimes; Government and the Monetary System; Payment Systems x
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Cover IMF Working Papers
Prometheus Unbound: What Makes Fintech Grow?
Serhan Cevik
The rise of financial technologies—fintech—could have transformative effects on the financial landscape, expanding the reach of services beyond the confines of geography and creating new competitive sources of finance for households and firms. But what makes fintech grow? Why do some countries have more financial innovation than others? In this paper, I use a comprehensive dataset to investigate the emergence and spread of fintech in a diverse panel of 98 countries over the period 2012–2020. This empirical analysis helps ascertain economic, demographic, technological and institutional factors that enable the development of fintech. The magnitude and statistical significance of these factors vary according to the type of fintech instrument and the level of economic development (advanced economies vs. developing countries). Finally, these findings reveal that policies and structural reforms can help promote financial innovation and cultivate fintech ventures—particularly by strengthening technological and institutional infrastructures and reducing cybersecurity threats.
Keywords:
Fintech; financial innovation; technological change; cybersecurity threat; fintech venture; copyright page; government stability foster fintech growth; fintech transaction; Digital financial services; Financial sector development; Population growth; Europe
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Costa Rica: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.
This Selected Issues paper focuses on the neutral interest rate in Costa Rica. Estimates of Costa Rica’s real natural rate of interest are between 0 and 3 percent, with a suite of semistructural and univariate methods reaffirming this conclusion at close to 1 percent. This toolkit of multiple differing methods accounts for characteristics of the Costa Rican economy and suggests current monetary policy remains restrictive. Univariate estimates for Costa Rica are between those for the United States and largest regional peers. Structural changes to the Costa Rican economy, particularly in recent years, have important implications for the movement in the neutral rate. A suite of univariate methods also reaffirms this conclusion and suggests current monetary policy remains restrictive. Estimates for Costa Rica are between the United States and largest regional peers. Replicating the univariate approach for the United States and other countries in Latin America suggests Costa Rica has a somewhat lower neutral real interest rate than the largest regional peers, Brazil and Mexico, which currently appear to have neutral rates above 2 percent but above the United States.
Keywords:
labor market characteristic; refugees in Costa rica; estimation uncertainty; neutral real interest rate; card payment fee; Real interest rates; Migration; Labor markets; Social assistance spending; Caribbean
Cover Selected Issues Papers
Financial Inclusion in Niger: Challenges and Opportunities: Niger
Yoro Diallo
,
Mr. Arsene Kaho
, and
Can Sever
Financial inclusion can increase economic growth and productivity and reduce poverty and inequality by helping people and firms—particularly SMEs—to save and invest, smooth consumption, and better manage financial risks. This paper highlights Niger’s lag compared to other WAEMU countries in terms of access to and use of formal financial services, including for women and youth, and underscores key demand and supply side challenges to financial inclusion as well as structural impediments. It lays out key priorities for Niger to harness the potential of greater financial inclusion to support the country’s development agenda, including efforts to tackle low financial literacy, promote digitization, and address informality.
Keywords:
Financial Inclusion; Financial Institutions; Niger; Niger's lag; development agenda; Niger banking sector; MFI sector NPL ratio; BCEAO MFI; IMF staff calculation; Digital financial services; Digital currencies; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Measuring Digital Financial Inclusion in Emerging and Developing Economies: A New Index
Purva Khera
,
Miss Stephanie Y Ng
,
Ms. Sumiko Ogawa
, and
Ms. Ratna Sahay
Adoption of technology in the financial services industry (i.e. fintech) has been accelerating in recent years. To systematically and comprehensively assess the extent and progress over time in financial inclusion enabled by technology, we develop a novel digital financial inclusion index. This index is based on payments data covering 52 developing countries for 2014 and 2017, taking into account both access and usage dimentions of digital financial services (DFSs). This index is then combined with the traditional measures of financial inclusion in the literature and aggregated into an overall index of financial inlusion. There are two key findings: first, the adoption of fintech has been a key driver of financial inclusion. Second, there is wide variation across countries and regions, with the greatest progress recorded in Africa and Asia and the Pacific regions. This index should offer a useful analytical tool for researchers and policy makers.
Keywords:
Fintech; digital financial services; financial inclusion; financial services industry; adoption of technology; capital markets department; services play; account ownership; Mobile banking; Caribbean; Asia and Pacific; Global; Africa
Cover IMF Working Papers
Beyond the COVID-19 Crisis: A Framework for Sustainable Government-To-Person Mobile Money Transfers
Delphine Prady
,
Hervé Tourpe
,
Sonja Davidovic
, and
Soheib Nunhuck
During the 2020 pandemic, the majority of countries have provided income support to households at an unprecedented speed and scale. Social distancing measures and the large penetration of mobile phones in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs) have encouraged government-to-person (G2P) transfers through mobile platforms. This paper presents a comprehensive framework for sustainable money solutions in support of social assistance. The framework consists of eight building blocks that may help policymakers i) take stock and assess emergency fixes taken to scale up mobile money in a crisis context and ii) develop sustainable long-term solutions for mobile G2P transfers.
Keywords:
WP; government; Novissi G2P; country; firm; government assistance program; money; G2P; mobile money; bank account; electronic money; cash transfer; low income; financial service; central bank; Mobile banking; Currencies; Fiscal accounting and reporting; Sub-Saharan Africa; South Asia; Africa; East Asia; Asia and Pacific; Philippines government; CICO network; State transfer; government ecosystem; government assistance; government cash transfer; total cost of ownership; COVID-19
Cover IMF Working Papers
Foreign Demand and Local House Prices: Evidence from the US
Mr. Damien Puy
,
Mr. Anil Ari
, and
Ms. Yu Shi
We test whether foreign demand matters for local house prices in the US using an identification strategy based on the existence of “home bias abroad” in international real estate markets. Following an extreme political crisis event abroad, a proxy for a strong and exogenous shift in foreign demand, we show that house prices rise disproportionately more in neighbourhoods with a high concentration of population originating from the crisis country. This effect is strong, persistent, and robust to the exclusion of major cities. We also show that areas that were already expensive in the late 1990s have experienced the strongest foreign demand shocks and the biggest drop in affordability between 2000 and 2017. Our findings suggest a non-trivial causal effect of foreign demand shocks on local house prices over the last 20 years, especially in neighbourhoods that were already rather unaffordable for the median household.
Keywords:
WP; time series; house price; housing boom; foreign demand shocks; interaction term; housing affordability; Housing prices; Foreign currency exposure; Housing; Real estate prices; Global; House Prices; Political Risk; Capital Flows
Cover Departmental Papers
The Future of Work in Sub-Saharan Africa
Aidar Abdychev
,
Cristian Alonso
,
Mr. Emre Alper
,
Mr. Dominique Desruelle
,
Siddharth Kothari
,
Yun Liu
,
Mathilde Perinet
,
Sidra Rehman
,
Mr. Axel Schimmelpfennig
, and
Preya Sharma
Far-reaching changes in technology, climate, and global economic integration are transforming the world of work in ways that we do not yet fully understand. Will the swift technological advances of the Fourth Industrial Revolution raise the standards of living for everyone? Or will robots massively displace workers leading to a jobless future where only a few benefit from the fruits of innovation? Will mitigation efforts be able to cushion the adverse effects of climate change, including food shortages and mass migration, which would place extra pressure on urban labor markets? Will countries continue to integrate commercially and financially, fostering growth and employment? Or will trade wars become a norm in a world increasingly fragmented and inward-looking? In sub-Saharan Africa, these uncertainties meet a dramatic increase in population and a rapid expansion in the labor force, which is becoming increasingly urban.
Keywords:
DPPP; DP; Sub-Saharan Africa; country; work; worker; sub-Saharan Africa's export; poverty trap; employment in sub-Saharan Africa; sub-Saharan Africa's integration; sub-Saharan Africa's population; investment plan; sub-Saharan Africa's convergence; land market; country investment plan; government policy; urbanization in sub-Saharan Africa; integration in sub-Saharan Africa; Digital economy; Climate change; Global; Africa; East Africa
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Singapore: 2016 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Singapore
International Monetary Fund. Asia and Pacific Dept
This 2016 Article IV Consultation highlights that Singapore’s economy continues to perform well despite being hit by a combination of cyclical and structural factors, originating both at home and abroad. Growth moderated from 3.3 percent in 2014 to 2 percent in 2015, and it was 2.2 percent in the first half of 2016. Unemployment has remained low, but net employment generation slowed rapidly in 2015, and headline inflation has stayed below zero since late 2014. Growth is projected to moderate slightly to 1.7 percent in 2016 as the full impact of the global shocks experienced in 2015 is felt, and is expected to recover to 2.2 percent in 2017.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; core inflation; Singapore; Singapore dollar; headline inflation; Singapore economy; Core CPI inflation; bond issuance; currency speculation; monetary policy easing; mas core inflation; Inflation; Loans; Aging; Global; IMF's transparency policy; Private investment
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Bangladesh: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund. Asia and Pacific Dept
This paper discusses three main issues: bank lending rates, impact of climate change on the economy of Bangladesh, and financial inclusion in Bangladesh. According to international standards, average bank lending rates and interest rate spreads in Bangladesh are not high. Various prudent policies have been implemented to bring interest rates down further. Bangladesh is considered among the top countries in the world for vulnerability to climate change, because of its geographical location and topography. The Bangladesh government has taken a number of initiatives to expand financial inclusion in the country. Financial inclusion helps increase the incomes of financially marginalized members of a society.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; Bangladesh; rate; IMF staff calculation; lending; bank; Bangladesh climate change strategy; microcredit program; FI indicator; FI policy; climate change impact; Climate change; Deposit rates; Credit; Loans; Nonperforming loans; South Asia
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
West African Economic and Monetary Union: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund. African Dept.
This Selected Issues paper on West African Economic and Monetary Union presents external stability assessment report. The current account deficit declined in 2014. Although gross international reserve coverage has increased slightly, part of the current account deficit has been financed by a decline in commercial banks’ net foreign assets. Contingent on the implementation of government’s consolidation plans, and helped by a favorable oil price outlook, the current account deficit would further gradually decline and be matched by enough financial inflows in the medium term. According to various metrics, the real exchange rate appears to be broadly aligned with fundamentals. International reserve coverage should increase to provide stronger buffers against immediate short-term risks. Structural competitiveness and investment efficiency improvements will be essential to ensure that the planned large investment programs translate into growth and export gains as well as increased private inflows into the region.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; WAEMU; GDP; ECOWAS country; dynamics well; payment service; credit-to GDP ratio; liquidity provision; Mobile banking; Imports; Tariffs; Commercial banks; West Africa