This paper surveys the evidence on the effectiveness of monetary transmission in low-income countries. It is hard to come away from this review with much confidence in the strength of monetary transmission in such countries. We distinguish between the "facts on the ground" and "methodological deficiencies" interpretations of the absence of evidence for strong monetary transmission. We suspect that "facts on the ground" are an important part of the story. If this conjecture is correct, the stabilization challenge in developing countries is acute indeed, and identifying the means of enhancing the effectiveness of monetary policy in such countries is an important challenge.
This Selected Issues paper on Uganda discusses the progress toward harmonization of capital account regulations and capital market integration. A unified East African Community financial market would offer several benefits to the regional economy. It would expand the opportunities for savings and investment financing, encourage more competition among banks and financial institutions, and lower transaction costs through economies of scale. Greater diversification, risk management, and consumption smoothing would also be possible in a broader financial market, while monetary union would eliminate exchange rate risk within the region.