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Africa > Uganda

You are looking at 1 - 10 of 19 items for :

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Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Ghana: Selected Issues Paper
International Monetary Fund. African Dept.
This Selected Issues paper discusses growth strategy for Ghana. Ghana has achieved impressive development gains over the last decades, with rising incomes, lower poverty, and better health, education, and gender outcomes. However, growth has recently become less inclusive, with high inequality and slower poverty reduction. In order to address these challenges, the authorities are pursuing a “Ghana beyond Aid” development strategy centered around agricultural modernization and export-led industrialization. Accelerating productivity growth calls for fostering competition, improving the business environment, strengthening human capital, taking advantage of growing regional markets and industrial policies that prioritize sectors that can export and innovate and where Ghana could achieve economies of scale. Consistent and predictable government policies can help increase long-term investment and improve public spending effectiveness. A key lesson from growth accelerations in other countries is that it is crucial to achieve economies of scale. In most cases, rapid economic growth required achieving export success in specific sectors.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; Ghana; asset; bank; industry; liability; per capita income; public sector; bank intermediation cost; structural change; gas assets; banking system; extractive industry; processing industries in Ghana; value chain; exposure to the commodity cycle; government balance sheet; bank profitability; Financial statements; Public sector; Commercial banks; Business enterprises; Nonperforming loans; Sub-Saharan Africa; Africa
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Togo: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund. African Dept.
This Selected Issues paper investigates state-owned financial institutions’ (SOFIs) performance in developing economies. It focuses on Sub-Saharan Africa, zooming in on the Togolese experience with SOFIs and privatization, at a time when the Togolese government has decided to further disengage from the financial sector. Typically set up with a public interest and financial inclusion mandate, SOFIs tend to weaken financial stability and fiscal discipline in developing economies, especially if they are not typically regulated and supervised on the same basis as other banks. Togo’s and cross-country experiences suggest that performance improves more after privatization when the government fully relinquishes control, when banks are privatized to strategic investors rather than through share issues, and when bidding is open to all, including foreign banks. The success of privatization also hinges on the business environment for competition, governance, and entry, on banks’ valuation and how policy concerns are dealt with, as well as on owner’s prudential review quality.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; Togo; outlay; authority; education outlay; frontier; social spending; spending leakage; ECF program; education expenditures in Togo; health performance; WAEMU country; frontier analysis; Privatization; State-owned banks; Corruption; Commercial banks; Sub-Saharan Africa; Global
Cover Policy Papers
Adequacy of the Global Financial Safety Net—Considerations for Fund Toolkit Reform
International Monetary Fund
liquidity in the face of increased vulnerabilities calls for enhancing the liquidity support provided through the global financial safety net (GFSN). The global economy is experiencing a period of protracted uncertainty, marked by frequent episodes of volatility. Demand for liquidity has intensified, in particular from emerging markets, which are experiencing a build-up of vulnerabilities and the depletion of their fiscal buffers. The enhanced GFSN meets only partially this higher demand for liquidity. The IMFC and G20 have called on the Fund to further strengthen the safety net. The uneven use of the Fund’s toolkit for crisis prevention suggests the need to reconsider its design. Despite a major overhaul of the Fund’s lending instruments available for precautionary financing, only a modest number of countries have used them. In particular, the lack of access to a liquidity backstop for members with strong policies—similar to the standing bilateral swap arrangements (BSAs) among central banks—limits the availability of Fund support over the whole duration of the shock during protracted periods of global uncertainty. Moreover, the need to resort to Fund financing still carries a high political cost (stigma) for some members. To enhance further the Fund’s toolkit for crisis prevention, consideration could be given to revisiting the existing toolkit and introducing new instruments. The toolkit could thus be enhanced by: establishing a new facility for precautionary financing that would provide a "standing" liquidity backstop to members with strong fundamentals and policies for use when hit by liquidity shocks; and adjusting the existing toolkit to maintain cohesion. Any change to the Fund toolkit would need to take into account the tradeoffs between reducing stigma and containing moral hazard, while simultaneously safeguarding Fund resources. A Fund policy monitoring instrument could improve the cohesion of the global safety net. As the GFSN has expanded and become more multi-layered, there is a need to improve cooperation across the different layers to unlock financing and signal commitment to reforms. Creating a policy monitoring instrument that is available to all Fund members could help in this regard. Next steps . In light of Directors’ views on these points, staff could come back with subsequent papers that lay out specific and detailed proposals for reforming the lending toolkit. While these papers focus on the GRA lending toolkit, a separate forthcoming paper will assess some aspects of the concessional lending toolkit.
Keywords:
PP; FCL; director; Short-term Liquidity Swap; resource; lending toolkit; review of the Flexible Credit Line; SLS qualification criteria; FCL qualification framework; crisis prevention; Ara metrics; fund resource; Liquidity; Balance of payments need; Lines of credit; Financial safety nets; Crisis prevention; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Evaluating the Impact of Non-Financial IMF Programs Using the Synthetic Control Method
Ms. Monique Newiak
and
Tim Willems
We use the Synthetic Control Method to study the effect of IMF advice on economic growth, inflation, and investment. The analysis exploits the existence of IMF programs that do not involve any financing (Policy Support Instruments, “PSIs”). This enables us to focus on the effects of IMF monitoring, advice, and approval (as opposed to direct financial assistance). In addition, countries with non-financial programs are typically not crisis-struck – thereby mitigating the reverse causality problem and facilitating the construction of counterfactuals. Results suggest that treated countries add about 1 percentage point in annual real GDP per capita growth, with inflation being lower by some 3 percentage points per year. While we do not find evidence for an impact on total investment and the resulting capital stock, PSI-treatment does seem to stimulate foreign direct investment.
Keywords:
WP; adverse selection; absolute value; International Monetary Fund; Program-evaluation; Economic growth; Inflation; Investment; IMF operations; IMF loan-participation rate; treatment effect; IMF's executive board; PSI review; traditional IMF program; structural adjustment; causal effect of IMF-program; effectiveness of IMF-program; adoption of an IMF-program; types of IMF-engagement; Stocks; Consumer price indexes; Sub-Saharan Africa
Cover IMF Working Papers
Identifying Constraints to Financial Inclusion and Their Impact on GDP and Inequality: A Structural Framework for Policy
Ms. Era Dabla-Norris
,
Yan Ji
,
Robert M. Townsend
, and
Ms. Filiz D Unsal
We develop a micro-founded general equilibrium model with heterogeneous agents to identify pertinent constraints to financial inclusion. We evaluate quantitatively the policy impacts of relaxing each of these constraints separately, and in combination, on GDP and inequality. We focus on three dimensions of financial inclusion: access (determined by the size of participation costs), depth (determined by the size of collateral constraints resulting from limited commitment), and intermediation efficiency (determined by the size of interest rate spreads and default possibilities due to costly monitoring). We take the model to a firm-level data from the World Bank Enterprise Survey for six countries at varying degrees of economic development—three low-income countries (Uganda, Kenya, Mozambique), and three emerging market countries (Malaysia, the Philippines, and Egypt). The results suggest that alleviating different financial frictions have a differential impact across countries, with country-specific characteristics playing a central role in determining the linkages and tradeoffs between inclusion, GDP, inequality, and the distribution of gains and losses.
Keywords:
WP; participation cost; Gini coefficient; cost of capital; intermediation cost; Financial inclusion; inequality; income distribution; hetergenous agents; optimal contract; credit regime; lending interest rate; Self-employment; Credit; Income inequality; Collateral
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Uganda: Selected Issues and Statistical Appendix
International Monetary Fund
This Selected Issues paper analyzes the underlying sources of growth in Uganda, suggesting that the contribution to growth from total factor productivity has been minor, while the high population growth poses a significant challenge to sustain a rapid improvement in living standards. The paper takes a closer look at the monetary transmission mechanisms in Uganda, aimed at assessing the appropriate choice of intermediate target and mix of liquidity sterilization instruments. It also focuses on the recent financial sector reforms undertaken by the government.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; Uganda; bank; TFP growth; high-productivity sector; exchange rate appreciation; sterilization operations; technical efficiency; financing cost; asset quality; capital base; risk portfolio; lending market; term financing; interest rate spread; low-productivity sector; price objective; growth prospect; forecast inflation; Total factor productivity; Inflation; Productivity; Commercial banks; Production growth; Sub-Saharan Africa
Cover Global Monitoring Report, 2005
Global Monitoring Report, 2005
Millennium Development Goals: From Consensus to Momentum
International Monetary Fund

Abstract

The year 2005 marks an important juncture for development as the international community takes stock of implementation of the Millennium Declaration—signed by 189 countries in 2000—and discusses how progress toward the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) can be accelerated. The MDGs set clear targets for reducing poverty and other human deprivations and for promoting sustainable development. What progress has been made toward these goals, and what should be done to accelerate it? What are the responsibilities of developing countries, developed countries, and international financial institutions? Global Monitoring Report 2005 addresses these questions. This report, the second in an annual series assessing progress on the MDGs and related development outcomes, has a special focus on Sub-Saharan Africa—the region that is farthest from the development goals and faces the toughest challenges in accelerating progress. The report finds that without rapid action to accelerate progress, the MDGs will be seriously jeopardized—especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, which is falling short on all the goals. It calls on the international community to seize the opportunities presented by the increased global attention to development to build momentum for the MDGs. The report presents in-depth analysis of the agenda and priorities for action. It discusses improvements in policies and governance that developing countries need to make to achieve stronger economic growth and scale up human development and relevant key services. It examines actions that developed countries need to take to provide more and better development aid and to reform their trade policies to improve market access for developing country exports. And it evaluates how international financial institutions can strengthen and sharpen their support for this agenda. Global Monitoring Report 2005 is essential reading for development practitioners and those interested in international affairs.

Keywords:
MISC RPT; MISC; country; development bank; low-income country; Sub-Saharan country; policy; country readiness; developed country; per capita income; Income; Multilateral development institutions; Tariffs; Sub-Saharan Africa; Global; Africa; South Asia; East Asia; middle-income country; Exports; Caribbean
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia: Selected Issues and Statistical Appendix
International Monetary Fund
This Selected Issues paper assesses the implications of a significant increase in the flow of external financing and grants on real GDP growth in Ethiopia. The paper presents an analysis of the sources of growth during 1991/92–2003/04, as well as an assessment of potential GDP growth. The paper also seeks to assess the historical relationship between foreign aid and the performance of the external sector in Ethiopia to establish whether foreign aid inflows have had an adverse effect on the tradable goods sector in the past.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; goods; potential GDP; appreciation; government; nontradable goods; regime; private sector development; tradable goods sector; trend capital-output ratio; merchandise export; Derg regime; Commercial banks; State-owned banks; Budget planning and preparation; Loans; Europe; Middle East; Eastern Europe; Western Hemisphere; Central Asia; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Uganda: Statistical Appendix
International Monetary Fund
In recent years, the IMF has released a growing number of reports and other documents covering economic and financial developments and trends in member countries. Each report, prepared by a staff team after discussions with government officials, is published at the option of the member country.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; Uganda; tax; factor cost; capital gain; Uganda police force; basic rate; windfall coffee tax; Income; Agricultural commodities; Imports; Commercial banks; Agroindustries; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Mauritius: Selected Issues and Statistical Appendix
International Monetary Fund
This Selected Issues paper and Statistical Appendix analyzes the labor market of Mauritius. It highlights that the high level of youth unemployment in Mauritius points to deficiencies in education and training. There are also significant rigidities in the functioning of the labor market that aggravate the problem. In particular, the Mauritian labor market is highly regulated and the relevant institutions operate according to a legalistic approach in which economic criteria play a relatively minor role.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; rate of return; money demand; firm; Mauritian rupee; net acquisition; yield; opening balance; time deposit; cash inflow; opportunity cost; Currencies; Agricultural commodities; Demand for money; Treasury bills and bonds; Caribbean