IMF recent releases

Working Papers:

Recent French Export Performance: Is There a Competitiveness Problem?
Author/Editor: Kabundi, Alain N. ; Nadal-De Simone, Francisco
Summary: Recently, the export performance of France relative to its own past and relative to a major trading partner, Germany, deteriorated. That deterioration seems related to the geographical destination and product composition of trend exports. Faced with an increase in unit labor costs or in its terms of trade, France adjusts relatively less via price and wage changes, and more via employment changes. Given that SMIC convergence resulted in a significant increase in unit labor costs, foreign sector difficulties might be structural. Trade flows relevance and euro area policy constraints highlight the importance of structural reforms that increase markets flexibility.

Banking Stability Measures
Author/Editor: Segoviano Basurto, Miguel A. ; Goodhart, C. A. E.
Summary: This paper defines a set of banking stability measures which take account of distress dependence among the banks in a system, thereby providing a set of tools to analyze stability from complementary perspectives by allowing the measurement of (i) common distress of the banks in a system, (ii) distress between specific banks, and (iii) distress in the system associated with a specific bank. Our approach defines the banking system as a portfolio of banks and infers the system's multivariate density (BSMD) from which the proposed measures are estimated. The BSMD embeds the banks' default inter-dependence structure that captures linear and non-linear distress dependencies among the banks in the system, and its changes at different times of the economic cycle. The BSMD is recovered using the CIMDO-approach, a new approach that in the presence of restricted data, improves density specification without explicitly imposing parametric forms that, under restricted data sets, !
are difficult to model. Thus, the proposed measures can be constructed from a very limited set of publicly available data and can be provided for a wide range of both developing and developed countries.

Yen Bloc or Yuan Bloc: An Analysis of Currency Arrangements in East Asia
Author/Editor: Shirono, Kazuko
Summary: This paper examines the role of Japan against that of China in the exchange rate regime in East Asia in light of growing interest in forming a currency union in the region. The analysis suggests that currency unions with China tend to generate higher average welfare gains for East Asian countries than currency unions with Japan or the United States. Overall, Japan does not appear to be a dominant player in forming a currency union in East Asia, and this trend is likely to continue if China's relative presence continues to rise in the regional trade.

A European Mandate for Financial Sector Supervisors in the EU
Author/Editor: Hardy, Daniel C. L.
Summary: The EU is deliberating the introduction of an explicit "European mandate" for financial sector supervisors to supplement national mandates. Suggestions are made on (i) the formulation of a European mandate; (ii) the policy areas to which it should apply; (iii) which institutions should be given a European mandate; (iv) the legal basis for the mandate; (v) how to implement the mandate in practice; and (vi) how to achieve accountability for fulfilling a European mandate. Decisions on these issues are needed if the introduction of a European mandate is to have a substantive positive effect.

Surveys:

Hungary: Markets Have Stabilized, but Long Road Ahead
Hungary's financial markets have stabilized since the IMF approved a $15.7 billion loan to back a program designed to ease financial market stress and support economic activity. But the road ahead is long, says James Morsink, the IMF's mission chief for Hungary.

IMF Helping Counter Crisis Fallout in Emerging Europe
The financial crisis has hit Europe hard. In an interview, IMF European Department head Marek Belka talks about Europe's prospects for recovery and the principles that guide the Fund as it seeks to help Europe's emerging economies counter the fallout of the crisis.

Economic Crises Hit Workers Hardest, Labor Conference Told
Workers, farmers, and the poor are likely to be among the groups worst affected by the current global recession, an IMF and World Bank meeting with global labor unions heard. The poor were also likeliest to spend any extra liquidity, the meeting was told.

IMF Makes $800 Million Available to El Salvador
In an interview, the IMF's mission chief for El Salvador, Alfred Schipke, talks about the impact of the global financial crisis on El Salvador, the precautionary nature of the economic program, and the challenges surrounding the future of the country's economic policies.

Country Reports:

Cape Verde: Fifth Review Under the Policy Support Instrument - Staff Report; Staff Supplement; Press Release on the Executive Board Discussion; and Statement by the Executive Director for Cape Verde

United Republic of Tanzania: Fourth Review Under the Policy Support Instrument - Staff Report; Press Release on the Executive Board Discussion; and Statement by the Executive Director for United Republic of Tanzania
Senegal: Second Review Under the Policy Support Instrument, Request for a Twelve-Month Arrangement Under the Exogenous Shocks Facility, and Request for Waivers and Modification of Assessment Criteria -Staff Report; Staff Statement; Press Release on the Executive Board Discussion; and Statement by the Executive Director for Senegal
Palau: Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes - FATF Recommendations for Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism
Republic of Madagascar: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper - Annual Progress Report - Joint Staff Advisory Note
Sierra Leone: Selected Issues and Statistical Appendix
Liberia: 2008 Article IV Consultation, First Review Under the Three-Year Arrangement Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility, Financing Assurances Review, and Request for Waiver and Modification of Performance Criteria - Staff Report; Public Information Notice and Press Release on the Executive Board Discussion; and Statement by the Executive Director for Liberia