Download or read book Terms of Trade Shocks in Africa Are They Short Lived or Long Lived written by Catherine A. Pattillo and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper examines the persistence of shocks to the terms of trade, using annual data on 42 Sub-Saharan African countries between 1960-96. We find that the persistence of terms of trade shocks varies widely for about half the countries such shocks are short-lived, while for one-third of the countries such shocks are long-lived. The countries experiencing long-lived terms of trade shocks are typically those that have large shares of petroleum imports in total imports, small shares of nonfuel commodity exports in total exports, and are highly concentrated in exportable commodities with long-lived price shocks.

Download or read book Terms of Trade Shocks in Africa Are They Short Lived Or Long Lived written by Paul Cashin and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2000-03 with total page 58 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A country's terms of trade is one of the most important relative prices in economics, yet economists are largely ignorant of many of its empirical properties. The ratio of an index of a country's export prices to the prices of its imported goods defines the net barter terms of trade (NBTT), which measures the number of units of imports that can be exchanged for a unit of exports. Particularly for commodity-exporting developing countries, movements in the NBTT are key determinants of a country's macroeconomic performance, and have an important impact on real national incomes. For example, arabica coffee is the dominant exportable of Ethiopia. The slump in world arabica coffee prices in 1986-87, largely caused by world production in excess of consumption, resulted in a 40 percent fall in Ethiopia's terms of trade. As imports were about 15 percent of its national expenditure, this adverse movement in its terms of trade resulted in about a 6 percent decline in Ethiopia's real income. Such terms of trade-induced shocks to real incomes in developing countries necessitate a domestic policy response, but in framing an appropriate response, an important question is how long-lasting are typical shocks?

Download or read book The Response of the Current Account to Terms of Trade Shocks written by Christopher J. Kent and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2003-07-01 with total page 50 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Is the relationship between the current account balance and the terms of trade affected by the persistence of terms of trade shocks? In intertemporal models of the current account that incorporate a consumption-smoothing and an investment response to shocks, the effect of the terms of trade on external balances is predicted to be dependent on the duration of terms of trade shocks. Using a median-unbiased estimator, an unbiased model-selection rule, and terms of trade data for 128 countries over the period 1960-99 we identify two groups of countries-those that typically experience temporary terms of trade shocks and those that typically experience permanent terms of trade shocks. The results from panel-data regressions of the two groups of countries support the theoretical predictions of the intertemporal approach to the current account. We find that the greater (lesser) the persistence of the terms of trade shock, the more (less) the investment effect dominates the consumption-smoothing effect on saving, so that the current account balance moves in the opposite (same) direction as that of the shock.

Download or read book IMF Macroeconomic Research on Low Income Countries written by International Monetary Fund and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2004-01-30 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Summarizes the for ward-looking analytical work program on macroeconomic issues related to the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper approach. The program is evolving through a process that began with a technical workshop; participants from low-income countries, donors, academia, and civil society drafted guidance on selected issues and identified priority research topics. Partners, policymakers, and economic scholars are encouraged to share their perspectives and findings through respective team leaders, whose e-mail addresses are provided. The publication also summarizes IMF analytical work, and contains a bibliography of nearly 1,000 papers.

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

Download or read book Agricultural Commodity Markets and Trade written by Alexander Sarris and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2006-01-27 with total page 492 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book argues that the viability of many observed market and non-market interventions in agricultural products worldwide depends considerably on the underlying behaviour of the relevant commodity markets. Many of these policies have had distortive impacts, resulting in much discussion and controversy in the context of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha Round of trade negotiations.

Download or read book Structural Stability in an African Context written by Robert Kappel and published by Nordic Africa Institute. This book was released on 2003 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Structural Stability is a particular focus for reconceptualizing developmental strategy and development aid and has provoked unfore-seen responses in the course of a recent, mainly German debate. This debate began late in 2000 when a number of prominent German scholars in African Studies initiated a policy dialogue through a widely circulated and publicly discussed "Afrika Memorandum" centred on the notion of structural stability. Its arguments are relevant not only to a German audience but offer stimulating and thought-provoking inputs into the debate in the wider European context on bilateral and multilateral relations with Africa. This Discussion Paper presents the revised contributions to a Consultative Workshop on Structural Stability in an African Context that took place at the Nordic Africa Institute in Uppsala on 31 March and 1 April 2003.

Download or read book Governing Natural Resources for Africa s Development written by Hany Gamil Besada and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-09-13 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bringing together some of the world’s leading thinkers and policy experts in the area of natural resource governance and management in Africa, this volume addresses the most critical policy issues affecting the continent’s ability to manage and govern its precious resources. The narrative of the book is solutions-driven, as experts weigh on specific issues within the context of Africa’s natural resource governance and offer appropriate policy recommendations on how to best manage the continent’s resources. This is a must-read for government policy makers in industrialized economies and, more importantly, in Africa and emerging economies, as well as for academic researchers working in the field, extractive companies operating on the continent, extractive industry and trade associations, and multilateral and donor aid institutions.

Download or read book Africa Facing Human Security Challenges in the 21st Century written by Tatah Mentan and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2014-05-12 with total page 580 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Africas dynamic security environment is characterized by great diversityfrom conventional challenges such as insurgencies, resource and identity conflicts, and post-conflict stabilization to growing threats from piracy, narcotics trafficking, violent extremism, and organized crime taking root in urban slums, among others. This precarious environment jeopardizes security at the societal, community and individual levels. In a globalized and interconnected world, millions of people worldwide are affected by some form of human insecurity. Infectious and parasitic diseases annually kill millions. Internally displaced persons number millions, including 5 million in Sudan alone. In Zambia 1 million people in a population of 11 million are reported to be HIV-positive, a situation much worse in other countries. Potable water crisis looms almost everywhere. In this book Tatah Mentan points out the need to shift the focus away from a state-centric and military-strategic emphasis on security to an interdisciplinary and people-centric approach that embraces notions like global citizenship, empowerment and participation. The primary elements of economic, food, health, environment, personal, community and political security all comprise the broader understanding of human security in an intricately interconnected world.

Download or read book Finance Development June 2000 written by International Monetary Fund. External Relations Dept. and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2000-01-01 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For the latest thinking about the international financial system, monetary policy, economic development, poverty reduction, and other critical issues, subscribe to Finance & Development (F&D). This lively quarterly magazine brings you in-depth analyses of these and other subjects by the IMF’s own staff as well as by prominent international experts. Articles are written for lay readers who want to enrich their understanding of the workings of the global economy and the policies and activities of the IMF.

Download or read book Review of the Compensatory Financing Facility written by International Monetary Fund. Policy Development and Review Dept. and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2004-02-18 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NULL

Download or read book The Political Economy of Economic Growth in Africa 1960 2000 written by B. J. Ndulu and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 992 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Volume 2 of an analysis of the economic development of Sub-Saharan Africa, 1960-2000.

Download or read book Commodity Terms of Trade written by Bertrand Gruss and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2019-01-24 with total page 38 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper presents a comprehensive database of country-specific commodity price indices for 182 economies covering the period 1962-2018. For each country, the change in the international price of up to 45 individual commodities is weighted using commodity-level trade data. The database includes a commodity terms-of-trade index—which proxies the windfall gains and losses of income associated with changes in world prices—as well as additional country-specific series, including commodity export and import price indices. We provide indices that are constructed using, alternatively, fixed weights (based on average trade flows over several decades) and time-varying weights (which can account for time variation in the mix of commodities traded and the overall importance of commodities in economic activity). The paper also discusses the dynamics of commodity terms of trade across country groups and their influence on key macroeconomic aggregates.

Download or read book IMF Staff Papers Volume 49 No 2 written by Mr.Robert P. Flood and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2002-07-11 with total page 122 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper explores sources of the output collapse in Russia during transition. A modified growth-accounting framework is developed that takes into account changes in factor utilization that are typical of the transition process. The results indicate that declines in factor inputs and productivity were both important determinants of the output fall. The paper analyzes the behavior of real commodity prices over the 1862–1999 progress. It also examines whether average stocks of health and education are converging across countries, and calculates the speed of their convergence using data from 84 countries for 1970–90.

Download or read book Deep Roots of Fiscal Behavior written by Mr.Serhan Cevik and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2014-03-12 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper investigates the determinants of fiscal policy behavior and its time-varying volatility, using panel data for a broad set of advanced and emerging market economies during the period 1990–2012. The empirical results show that discretionary fiscal policy is influenced by policy inertia, the level of public debt, and the output gap in both advanced and emerging market economies. In addition, the paper finds that macro-financial factors—such as real exchange rate, financial development, interest rates, asset prices, and natural resource rents—and demographic and institutional factors—such as the old-age dependency ratio, the quality of institutions, and policy anchors such as fiscal rules and IMF-supported stabilization programs—tend to have a significant effect on fiscal policy behavior. The results also indicate that higher government debt leads to more volatile fiscal behavior, while fiscal rules and higher institutional quality reduce the volatility of fiscal policy over time.

Download or read book Macroeconomic Policy Frameworks for Resource Rich Developing Countries written by International Monetary Fund. Strategy, Policy, & Review Department and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2012-08-24 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper aims to widen the prism through which Fund policy analysis is conducted for resource-rich developing countries (RRDCs). While all resource-rich economies face resource revenue exhaustibility and volatility, RRDCs face additional challenges, including lack of access to international capital markets and domestic capital scarcity. Resource exhaustibility gives rise to inter-temporal decisions of how much of the resource wealth to consume and how much to save, and revenue volatility calls for appropriate fiscal rules and precautionary savings. Under certain conditions, it would be optimal for a significant share of a RRDC’s savings to be in domestic real assets (e.g., investment in domestic infrastructure), though absorptive capacity constraints need to be tackled to promote efficient spending and short-run policies are needed to preserve macroeconomic stability. The objective of this paper is to develop new macro-fiscal frameworks and policy analysis tools for RRDCs that could enhance Fund policy advice.

Download or read book Regional Integration in West Africa written by Eswar Prasad and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2021-07-13 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: " Assessing the potential benefits and risks of a currency union Leaders of the fifteen-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have set a goal of achieving a monetary and currency union by late 2020. Although some progress has been made toward achieving this ambitious goal, major challenges remain if the region is to realize the necessary macroeconomic convergence and establish the required institutional framework in a relatively short period of time. The proposed union offers many potential benefits, especially for countries with historically high inflation rates and weak central banks. But, as implementation of the euro over the past two decades has shown, folding multiple currencies, representing disparate economies, into a common union comes with significant costs, along with operational challenges and transitional risks. All these potential negatives must be considered carefully by ECOWAS leaders seeking tomeet a self-imposed deadline. This book, by two leading experts on economics and Africa, makes a significant analytical contribution to the debates now under way about how ECOWAS could achieve and manage its currency union, andthe ramifications for the African continent. "