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Africa > Uganda

You are looking at 1 - 7 of 7 items for :

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Cover IMF Working Papers
The Role of Productivity, Transportation Costs, and Barriers to Intersectoral Mobility in Structural Transformation
Cem Karayalcin
and
Mihaela Pintea
The process of economic development is characterized by substantial reallocations of resources across sectors. In this paper, we construct a multi-sector model in which there are barriers to the movement of labor from low-productivity traditional agriculture to modern sectors. With the barrier in place, we show that improvements in productivity in modern sectors (including agriculture) or reductions in transportation costs may lead to a rise in agricultural employment and through terms-oftrade effects may harm subsistence farmers if the traditional subsistence sector is larger than a critical level. This suggests that policy advice based on the earlier literature needs to be revised. Reducing barriers to mobility (through reductions in the cost of skill acquisition and institutional changes) and improving the productivity of subsistence farmers needs to precede policies designed to increase the productivity of modern sectors or decrease transportation costs.
Keywords:
WP; subsistence farming; terms of trade; Structural transformation; Subsistence agriculture; multi-sector models; Economic development; Transportation costs; transportation cost; agriculture sector; productivity improvement; modern agriculture; productivity difference; excess demand; improvement result; Agricultural sector; Productivity; Transportation; Manufacturing; Sub-Saharan Africa
Cover IMF Working Papers
The East African Community: Prospects for Sustained Growth
Ms. Catherine McAuliffe
,
Ms. Sweta Chaman Saxena
, and
Mr. Masafumi Yabara
The East African Community (EAC) has been among the fastest growing regions in sub-Saharan Africa in the past decade or so. Nonetheless, the recent growth path will not be enough to achieve middle-income status and substantial poverty reduction by the end of the decade—the ambition of most countries in the region. This paper builds on methodologies established in the growth literature to identify a group of countries that achieved growth accelerations and sustained growth to use as benchmarks to evaluate the prospects, and potential constraints, for EAC countries to translate their recent growth upturn into sustained high growth. We find that EAC countries compare favorably to the group of sustained growth countries—macroeconomic and government stability, favorable business climate, and strong institutions—but important differences remain. EAC countries have a smaller share of exports, lower degree of financial deepening, lower levels of domestic savings, higher reliance on donor aid, and limited physical infrastructure and human capital. Policy choices to address some of these shortcomings could make a difference in whether the EAC follows the path of sustained growth or follows other countries where growth upturns later fizzled out. 
Keywords:
WP; EAC country; EAC member; growth acceleration; EAC economy; EAC growth; Accelerated growth; sustained growth; benchmarking; East African Community; sub-Saharan Africa; EAC integration; exchange rate; private sector; common market; Exports; Financial sector; Government debt management; Productivity; Real exchange rates; Africa; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
The Dynamic Implications of Debt Relief for Low-Income Countries
Mr. Ales Bulir
,
Alma Romero-Barrutieta
, and
Jose Daniel Rodríguez-Delgado
The effects of debt relief on incentives to accumulate debt, consume, and invest are an important concern for donors and recipients. Using a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model of a small open economy with a minimum consumption requirement and an endogenous relief probability, we show that excessive debt accumulation is consistent with an anticipation of a future debt relief. Simulations of the calibrated model using 1982-2006 Ugandan data suggest that debt-relief episodes are likely to have only a temporary impact on the level of debt in low-income countries, while being associated with more consumption and less invesment. The long-run debt-to-GDP ratio is estimated to be about twice as high with debt relief than without it.
Keywords:
WP; debt forgiveness; debt-to-GDP ratio; interest rate; Debt relief; general equilibrium model; small open economy; donor debt-relief policy; productivity shock; debt-relief rule; probability value; debt-relief probability; debt-relief lottery; debt-relief shock; debt-relief scenario; policy rule; Consumption; Productivity; Disposable income; Sub-Saharan Africa; debt-relief episode; debt-relief function; IMF Institute
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Kenya: Selected Issues and Statistical Appendix
International Monetary Fund
Like most Sub-Saharan African countries, Kenya’s economic growth appears to have been primarily driven by factor accumulation. The Selected Issues paper and Statistical Appendix for Kenya examines economic developments and policies. During the last two decades, Kenya has been plagued by pervasive problems of internal conflicts, constitutional crises, and corruption scandals. The governance agenda focuses on several reforms, including upgrading the public budget and financial management systems, strengthening the anticorruption institutions, and improving the judicial framework.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; Kenya; pay; inflation; TFP growth; wage bill; Reduced-Form inflation equation; development objective; governance agenda; growth performance; bill-to-domestic revenue; Tariffs; Total factor productivity; Wages; Real exchange rates; Imports; Sub-Saharan Africa; Middle East; Africa; East Asia; Central and Eastern Europe
Cover Sustaining and Accelerating Pro-Poor Growth in Africa
Sustaining and Accelerating Pro-Poor Growth in Africa
Mr. Kevin J Carey
,
Mr. Sanjeev Gupta
, and
Ms. Catherine A Pattillo

Abstract

Growth in sub-Saharan Africa has recently shown signs of improvement, but is still short of levels needed to attain the Millennium Development Goals. Economists have placed increasing emphasis on understanding the policies that promote sustained jumps in medium-term growth, and the paper applies this approach to African countries. The evidence presented finds an important growth-supporting role for particular kinds of institutions and policies, but also highlights aspects of growth that are still not well understood. The paper includes policy guidance for ensuring that the poor benefit from growth.

Keywords:
ISI; SI; country; policy; growth rate; Dem. rep.; sub-Saharan Africa data; conflict country; World Bank's country policy; sub-Saharan Africa country; growth opportunity; country case studies; Income inequality; Poverty reduction; Total factor productivity; Inclusive growth; Sub-Saharan Africa; Africa; Global; growth in sub-Saharan Africa
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 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