Download or read book Inflation Thresholds and Relative Price Variability in the ECOWAS Region written by Eunice N. Egbuna and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While the relationship between inflation and relative price variability (RPV) has been widely investigated in developed and emerging market economies because of its direct relevance to monetary policy implementation, research has neglected this linkage in most developing countries especially in the ECOWAS region. This paper examines whether RPV responds differently to different inflation regimes across the ECOWAS region, determining the inflation threshold that would minimize the distortionary impact of expected inflation on RPV in the region. Using the Panel Smooth Transition Regression (PSTR) model over the period 2008:M1 to 2019:M12, the paper finds that ECOWAS countries would achieve lower RPV in the moderate/intermediate inflation regime where the undesirable effect of expected inflation on RPV fades out. This regime ranges from an inflation rate of 7.1 percent to 8.3 percent per annum. The paper further establishes different inflation thresholds for the WAEMU and WAMZ countries, which reflects the differences in inflation tolerance levels between the Zones. It shows that inflation targets below the thresholds of 5.5 percent and 8.3 percent per annum, are desirable in the WAEMU and WAMZ, respectively. Along these lines, this paper concludes that ECOWAS countries should adopt a two-tier inflation compliance regime, until a common monetary policy framework is adopted across the region. The determination of appropriate inflation targets in line with these thresholds in both Zones would pave the way for the adoption of an inflation targeting (IT) regime to anchor inflation expectations and enhance credibility to monetary policy across the wider ECOWAS region.

Download or read book Inflation Uncertainty and Relative Price Variability in WAEMU Countries written by Carlos Fernandez Valdovinos and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2011-03-01 with total page 46 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using a consistent dataset and methodology for all eight member countries of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) from 1994 to 2009, this paper provides evidence of the two major channels for real effects of inflation: inflation uncertainty and relative price variability. In line with theory and most evidence for advanced and emerging market economies, higher inflation increases inflation uncertainty and relative price variability in all WAEMU countries. However, the pattern, magnitude and timing of these two channels vary considerably by country. The findings raise several policy issues for future research.

Download or read book Food Price Volatility and Its Implications for Food Security and Policy written by Matthias Kalkuhl and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-04-12 with total page 620 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides fresh insights into concepts, methods and new research findings on the causes of excessive food price volatility. It also discusses the implications for food security and policy responses to mitigate excessive volatility. The approaches applied by the contributors range from on-the-ground surveys, to panel econometrics and innovative high-frequency time series analysis as well as computational economics methods. It offers policy analysts and decision-makers guidance on dealing with extreme volatility.

Download or read book Wealth through Integration written by Elias T. Ayuk and published by Springer. This book was released on 2013-10-22 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Could regional integration be a first step toward joining the global market? In a context where liberalizing trade has not produced the expected gains in developing countries and growth in global trade has not led to the expected economic growth, an alternative solution has emerged. This new paradigm suggests that trade liberalization should be accompanied by public investment. However, by its very nature, trade liberalization leads to a reduction in revenues from duties and taxes, which means that the available resources for public investments will also be reduced. There are now solid arguments for encouraging the less-developed countries to first emphasize regional integration before trying to access the global market. This book explores the issues linked to regional integration in West Africa and presents empirical data about the experiences in = West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) countries to converge their economies. It also examines how these efforts, which make a major contribution to regional integration, influence poverty reduction in the economic and monetary community. It will be of interest to researchers working in this area. Elias T. Ayuk is Director of the United Nations University Institute for Natural Resources in Africa in Accra, Ghana, and was formerly a senior program specialist at the International Development Research Centre. Samuel T. Kaboré is a researcher/lecturer at the Faculty of Economics and Management at the University of Ouagadougou II, Burkina Faso. Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) supports research in developing countries to promote growth and development. IDRC also encourages sharing this knowledge with policymakers, other researchers, and communities around the world. The result is innovative, lasting local solutions that aim to bring choice and change to those who need it most. Elias T. Ayuk is Director of the United Nations University Institute for Natural Resources in Africa in Accra, Ghana, and was formerly a senior program specialist at the International Development Research Centre. Samuel T. Kaboré is a researcher/lecturer at the Faculty of Economics and Management at the University of Ouagadougou II, Burkina Faso. Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) supports research in developing countries to promote growth and development. IDRC also encourages sharing this knowledge with policymakers, other researchers, and communities around the world. The result is innovative, lasting local solutions that aim to bring choice and change to those who need it most.

Download or read book World Development Report 2009 written by World Bank and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2008-11-04 with total page 410 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rising densities of human settlements, migration and transport to reduce distances to market, and specialization and trade facilitated by fewer international divisions are central to economic development. The transformations along these three dimensions density, distance, and division are most noticeable in North America, Western Europe, and Japan, but countries in Asia and Eastern Europe are changing in ways similar in scope and speed. 'World Development Report 2009: Reshaping Economic Geography' concludes that these spatial transformations are essential, and should be encouraged. The conclusion is not without controversy. Slum-dwellers now number a billion, but the rush to cities continues. Globalization is believed to benefit many, but not the billion people living in lagging areas of developing nations. High poverty and mortality persist among the world's 'bottom billion', while others grow wealthier and live longer lives. Concern for these three billion often comes with the prescription that growth must be made spatially balanced. The WDR has a different message: economic growth is seldom balanced, and efforts to spread it out prematurely will jeopardize progress. The Report: documents how production becomes more concentrated spatially as economies grow. proposes economic integration as the principle for promoting successful spatial transformations. revisits the debates on urbanization, territorial development, and regional integration and shows how today's developers can reshape economic geography.

Download or read book Africa s Infrastructure written by Vivien Foster and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2010 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This booklet contains the Overview as well as a list of contents from the forthcoming book Africa's Infrastructure: A time for Transformation.

Download or read book Yes Africa Can written by Punam Chuhan-Pole and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2011-06-24 with total page 497 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Takes an in-depth look at twenty-six economic and social development successes in Sub-Saharan African countries, and addresses how these countries have overcome major developmental challenges.

Download or read book The Common Monetary Area in Southern Africa Shocks Adjustment and Policy Challenges written by Iyabo Masha and published by INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND. This book was released on 2007-07-01 with total page 63 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study assesses the experience of the Common Monetary Area (CMA) based on available empirical evidence over the last two decades. It pays particular attention to member countries' adjustment to economic shocks in recent years and the inter-country linkages, including the spillover effects of policies. The paper draws the main lessons from the CMA experience, identifies key policy challenges, and discusses the issues facing the member countries in their efforts to achieve sustained growth. Implications for further economic integration in a broader regional context are also noted.

Download or read book Our Continent Our Future written by P. Thandika Mkandawire and published by IDRC. This book was released on 2014-05-14 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our Continent, Our Future presents the emerging African perspective on this complex issue. The authors use as background their own extensive experience and a collection of 30 individual studies, 25 of which were from African economists, to summarize this African perspective and articulate a path for the future. They underscore the need to be sensitive to each country's unique history and current condition. They argue for a broader policy agenda and for a much more active role for the state within what is largely a market economy. Finally, they stress that Africa must, and can, compete in an increasingly globalized world and, perhaps most importantly, that Africans must assume the leading role in defining the continent's development agenda.

Download or read book Globalization Trade and Poverty in Ghana written by Charles Ackah and published by IDRC. This book was released on 2012 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Citing a paucity of empirical evidence on the poverty and distributional impacts of trade policy reform in Ghana as the main motivation for this volume, the editors (both of the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research at the U. of Ghana) present eleven papers that combine theory and econometric analysis in an effort to assess linkages between globalization, trade, and poverty (including gendered aspects). Specific topics examined include manufacturing employment and wage effects of trade liberalization; the influence of education on trade liberalization impacts on household welfare; trade liberalization and manufacturing firm productivity; the impact of elimination of trade taxes on poverty and income distribution; food prices, tax reforms, and consumer welfare under trade liberalization; impacts on tariff revenues; and impacts on cash cropping, gender, and household welfare; Distributed in the US by Stylus. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).

Download or read book Banking in Africa Delivering on Financial Inclusion Supporting Financial Stability written by European Investment Bank and published by European Investment Bank. This book was released on 2018-11-21 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In its fourth edition, this report focuses on recent developments in Africa's banking sectors and the policy options for all stakeholders. The study of banking sectors across all African sub-regions includes the results of the EIB survey of banking groups operating in Africa. Three thematic chapters address challenges and opportunities for financing investment in Africa: Crowding out of private sector lending by public debt issuance The state of bank recovery and resolution laws in Africa Policy options on how to finance infrastructure development. The report finds that in many African banking markets, the last two years saw a pause in financial deepening. However, a rising share of banking groups report improving market conditions and plan a structural expansion of their operations in Africa and a continued push for new technologies.

Download or read book Remittance Markets in Africa written by Sanket Mohapatra and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2011-01-01 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Remittances sent by African migrants have become an important source of external finance for countries in the Sub-Saharan African region. In many African countries, these flows are larger than foreign direct investment and portfolio debt and equity flows. In some cases, they are similar in size to official aid from multilateral and bilateral donors. Remittance markets in Africa, however, remain less developed than other regions. The share of informal or unrecorded remittances is among the highest for Sub-Saharan African countries. Remittance costs tend to be significantly higher in Africa both for sending remittances from outside the region and for within-Africa (South-South) remittance corridors. At the same time, the remittance landscape in Africa is rapidly changing with the introduction of new remittance technologies, in particular mobile money transfers and branchless banking. This book presents findings of surveys of remittance service providers conducted in eight Sub-Saharan African countries and in three key destination countries. It looks at issues relating to costs, competition, innovation and regulation, and discusses policy options for leveraging remittances for development in Africa.

Download or read book Regional Economic Outlook May 2005 Sub Saharan Africa written by International Monetary Fund and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2005-05-31 with total page 102 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This first, annual issue of Regional Economic Outlook: Sub-Saharan Africa analyzes economic, trade, and institutional issues in 2004, and prospects in 2005, for the 42 countries covered by the IMF African Department (for data reasons, Eritrea and Liberia are excluded). Topics examined include responses to exogenous shocks, growth performance and growth-enhancing policies, and the effectiveness of regional trade arrangements. Detailed aggregate and country data (as of February 24, 2005) are provided in the appendix.

Download or read book The Global Food Crisis written by Jennifer Clapp and published by Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press. This book was released on 2009-09-30 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The global food crisis is a stark reminder of the fragility of the global food system. The Global Food Crisis: Governance Challenges and Opportunities captures the debate about how to go forward and examines the implications of the crisis for food security in the world’s poorest countries, both for the global environment and for the global rules and institutions that govern food and agriculture. In this volume, policy-makers and scholars assess the causes and consequences of the most recent food price volatility and examine the associated governance challenges and opportunities, including short-term emergency responses, the ecological dimensions of the crisis, and the longer-term goal of building sustainable global food systems. The recommendations include vastly increasing public investment in small-farm agriculture; reforming global food aid and food research institutions; establishing fairer international agricultural trade rules; promoting sustainable agricultural methods; placing agriculture higher on the post-Kyoto climate change agenda; revamping biofuel policies; and enhancing international agricultural policy-making. Co-published with the Centre for International Governance Innovation

Download or read book Evolution and Performance of Exchange Rate Regimes written by Mr.Kenneth Rogoff and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2003-12-01 with total page 85 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using recent advances in the classification of exchange rate regimes, this paper finds no support for the popular bipolar view that countries will tend over time to move to the polar extremes of free float or rigid peg. Rather, intermediate regimes have shown remarkable durability. The analysis suggests that as economies mature, the value of exchange rate flexibility rises. For countries at a relatively early stage of financial development and integration, fixed or relatively rigid regimes appear to offer some anti-inflation credibility gain without compromising growth objectives. As countries develop economically and institutionally, there appear to be considerable benefits to more flexible regimes. For developed countries that are not in a currency union, relatively flexible exchange rate regimes appear to offer higher growth without any cost in credibility.

Download or read book Inclusive Green Growth written by World Bank and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2012-05-01 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Inclusive Green Growth: The Pathway to Sustainable Development makes the case that greening growth is necessary, efficient, and affordable. Yet spurring growth without ensuring equity will thwart efforts to reduce poverty and improve access to health, education, and infrastructure services.

Download or read book The Monetary Geography of Africa written by Paul R. Masson and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2004-11-30 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Africa is working toward the goal of creating a common currency that would serve as a symbol of African unity. The advantages of a common currency include lower transaction costs, increased stability, and greater insulation of central banks from pressures to provide monetary financing. Disadvantages relate to asymmetries among countries, especially in their terms of trade and in the degree of fiscal discipline. More disciplined countries will not want to form a union with countries whose excessive spending puts upward pressure on the central bank's monetary expansion. In T he Monetary Geography of Africa, Paul Masson and Catherine Pattillo review the history of monetary arrangements on the continent and analyze the current situation and prospects for further integration. They apply lessons from both experience and theory that lead to a number of conclusions. To begin with, West Africa faces a major problem because Nigeria has both asymmetric terms of trade—it is a large oil exporter while its potential partners are oil importers—and most important, large fiscal imbalances. Secondly, a monetary union among all eastern or southern African countries seems infeasible at this stage, since a number of countries suffer from the effects of civil conflicts and drought and are far from achieving the macroeconomic stability of South Africa. Lastly, the plan by Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda to create a common currency seems to be generally compatible with other initiatives that could contribute to greater regional solidarity. However, economic gains would likely favor Kenya, which, unlike the other two countries, has substantial exports to its neighbors, and this may constrain the political will needed to proceed. A more promising strategy for monetary integration would be to build on existing monetary unions—the CFA franc zone in western and central Africa and the Common Monetary Area in southern Africa. Masson and Pattillo argue that the goal of a creating a s