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Social Science > Poverty and Homelessness

You are looking at 1 - 9 of 9 items for :

  • Type: Journal Issue x
  • Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy x
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Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Myanmar: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund. Asia and Pacific Dept
This Selected Issues paper analyzes banking sector developments in Myanmar. It highlights that latent banking sector risks are surfacing, following a period of rapid credit growth and as banks adjust to updated financial regulations. Over time banks will need to enhance their credit risk management, and reduce the over-reliance on collateral values to safeguard lending. A banking system action plan has been developed, to enhance the banking system’s resilience, as well as strengthen the supervisory and resolution framework. The ongoing overhaul of the prudential framework and financial sector reforms will strengthen the banking sector and its role in supporting the economy.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; Myanmar; bank; private bank; value chain; FDI; IMF staff calculation; growth takeoff; private bank lending; policy bank; banking system action plan; increase bank capital; FDI inflow; Commercial banks; Credit; Global value chains; Financial inclusion; Global; Asia and Pacific
Cover IMF Working Papers
Financial Development, Inequality and Poverty: Some International Evidence
Samy Ben Naceur
and
RuiXin Zhang
This paper provides evidence on the link between financial development and income distribution. Several dimensions of financial development are considered: financial access, efficiency, stability, and liberalization. Each aspect is represented by two indicators: one related to financial institutions, and the other to financial markets. Using a sample of 143 countries from 1961 to 2011, the paper finds that four of the five dimensions of financial development can significantly reduce income inequality and poverty, except financial liberalization, which tends to exacerbate them. Also, banking sector development tends to provide a more significant impact on changing income distribution than stock market development. Together, these findings are consistent with the view that macroeconomic stability and reforms that strengthen creditor rights, contract enforcement, and financial institution regulation are needed to ensure that financial development and liberalization fully support the reduction of poverty and income equality.
Keywords:
WP; price index; income
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Democratic Republic of the Congo: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund. African Dept.
This Selected Issues paper takes stock of poverty in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Poverty has receded in the DRC over the last decade on the back of gradual stabilization in the security and political situation, strong economic growth, and sharp decline in inflationary pressures. Most social indicators also improved during the period. However, poverty remains pervasive with a level still among the highest in sub-Saharan Africa, and DRC will likely not achieve any of the Millennium Developments Goals by 2015. Policy actions should focus on fostering the development of labor-intensive sector, increasing social spending, and redirecting public resources to the poorest regions of the country.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; Congo; budget; rate; export diversification; B. Benchmarking DRC; world development indicator; execution revenue gap; execution expenditure gap; Mining sector; Export diversification; Financial inclusion; Exports; Global; Africa; Sub-Saharan Africa; Southern Africa
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Peru: Selected Issues Paper
International Monetary Fund
Peru’s fiscal framework embedded in the Fiscal Responsibility and Transparency Law (FRTL) has proved to be effective in reducing debt. The FRTL embodies some countercyclical elements in response to output or commodity price shocks. The combination of a provision for a moderate deficit on the downside, and a current expenditure cap on the upside, allows for some countercyclical policy. It still has pockets of procyclicality in the face of large shocks to output or commodity prices.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; Peru; commodity price; GDP; central bank; poverty reduction; BoE executive; financial system; comparative advantage; trend output; Financial sector stability; Macroprudential policy; Fiscal stance; Commodity prices; Global; Africa; Caribbean
Cover IMF Working Papers
Financial Deepening, Property Rights and Poverty: Evidence From Sub-Saharan Africa
Mr. Yifei Huang
and
Mr. Raju J Singh
Recent studies on the relationship between financial development and poverty have been inconclusive. Some claim that, by allowing more entrepreneurs to obtain financing, financial development improves the allocation of capital, which has a particularly large impact on the poor. Others argue that it is primarily the rich and politically connected who benefit from improvements in the financial system. This paper looks at a sample of 37 countries in sub-Saharan Africa from 1992 through 2006. Its results suggest that financial deepening could narrow income inequality and reduce poverty, and that stronger property rights reinforce these effects. Interest rate and lending liberalization alone could, however, be detrimental to the poor if not accompanied by institutional reforms, in particular stronger property rights and wider access to creditor information.
Keywords:
WP; Gini coefficient; GDP; financial development; poverty alleviation; income distribution; Africa; poverty gap; poverty indicator; dependent variable; allocation mechanism; decrease poverty; absolute value; positive correlation; Financial sector development; Credit; Income inequality; Sub-Saharan Africa
Cover IMF Working Papers
Financial Development and Poverty Reduction: Can There Be a Benefit Without a Cost?
Sylviane Guillaumont Jeanneney
and
Mr. Kangni R Kpodar
This article investigates how financial development helps to reduce poverty directly through the McKinnon conduit effect and indirectly through economic growth. The results obtained with data for a sample of developing countries from 1966 through 2000 suggest that the poor benefit from the ability of the banking system to facilitate transactions and provide savings opportunities but to some extent fail to reap the benefit from greater availability of credit. Moreover, financial development is accompanied by financial instability, which is detrimental to the poor. Nevertheless, the benefits of financial development for the poor outweigh the cost.
Keywords:
WP; GDP; poverty gap; headcount poverty
Cover IMF Working Papers
Impact of Remittances on Poverty and Financial Development in Sub-Saharan Africa
Mr. Sanjeev Gupta
,
Ms. Catherine A Pattillo
, and
Ms. Smita Wagh
This paper assesses the impact of the steadily growing remittance flows to sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Though the region receives only a small portion of the total recorded remittances to developing countries, and the volume of aid flows to SSA swamps remittances, this paper finds that remittances, which are a stable, private transfer, have a direct poverty mitigating effect, and promote financial development. These findings hold even after factoring in the reverse causality between remittances, poverty and financial development. The paper posits that formalizing such flows can serve as an effective access point for "unbanked" individuals and households, and that the effective use of such flows can mitigate the costs of skilled out-migration in SSA.
Keywords:
WP; remittance
Cover IMF Working Papers
Financial Crises, Poverty, and Income Distribution
International Monetary Fund
Developing and transition economies are prone to financial crises, including balance of payments and banking crises. These crises affect poverty and the distribution of income through a variety of channels: slowdowns in economic activity, relative price changes, and fiscal retrenchment, among others. This paper deals with the impact of financial crises on the incidence of poverty and income distribution, and discusses policy options that can be considered by governments in the aftermath of crises. Empirical evidence, based on both macro- and microlevel data, shows that financial crises are associated with an increase in poverty and, in some cases, income inequality. The provison of targeted safety nets and the protection of specific social programs from fiscal retrenchment remain the main short-term propoor policy responses to financial crises.
Keywords:
WP; income; financial crisis; Financial crises; poverty; income distribution; Mexico; poverty gap; income share; distribution indicator; poverty incidence; household income; poverty headcount ratio; currency crash; Personal income; Income inequality
Cover IMF Working Papers
High Inflation and Real Wages
Mr. Benedikt Braumann
Empirical data show that real wages fall sharply during periods of high inflation. This paper suggests a simple general equilibrium explanation, without relying on nominal rigidities. It presents an intertemporal two-sector model with a cash-in-advance constraint. In this setting, inflation reduces real wages through (1) a decline of the capital stock, and (2) a shift in relative prices. The two effects are additive and make the decline in real wages exceed the decline in per-capita GDP. This mechanism may contribute to rising poverty during periods of high inflation.
Keywords:
WP; consumer goods; excess supply; Inflation; real wages; poverty; Heckscher-Ohlin; cash-in-advance; inflation crisis; inflation increase; factor price; investment goods; price effect; inflation broken line; Consumption