Technical Assistance Delivery by Long-Term Experts are an increasingly important vehicle for delivering TA in all financial sector areas. In recent years, the amount of MCM TA provided through LTEs has been about 28 staff years annually, or 36 percent of MCM’s total TA field delivery (including RTACs). This share has recently risen as a result of the steady increase in external financing and the cutback in MCM’s own resources for capacity building in the context of the recent downsizing. Indeed, the share of LTEs (who are mostly externally financed) in total planned MCM TA jumped to 41 percent in fiscal year 2009 (May-April). As these factors are expected to persist, the importance of LTEs as a means of delivering TA will likely increase further.

The Kyrgyz Republic -- Joint Economic Assessment: Reconciliation, Recovery and Reconstruction; Prepared by the Asian Development Bank, International Monetary Fund, and The World Bank; With the participation of Eurasian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Commission, International Finance Corporation, and The United Nations

This book gives insight on the dynamics and route of economic policies that have been taken and implemented since the point of institutional reforms in 1998 that were triggered from the context of the financial crisis in 1997/1998. The condition brought a different paradigm on the landscape of economic and development policies, especially in the case of the monetary and financial structure, the international trade sector, the manufacturing sector, the taxes administration policy and the evolved context of decentralization and development of public sector policies in general. Given state of current economic development, this book offers suggestions to address economic issues that require improvements. This book is unique as: 1) it is about Indonesia, a country mostly affected by 1997/1998 financial crisis, which also lead to a change in regime; 2) it covers a broad range of thematic topics on sectors development and institutional changes from major policies that have been taken; and 3) it posits both existing and future challenges on monetary and financial sectors, trade, manufacturing and competitiveness, as well as on development of decentralization policies.

This paper is the third to be issued under the Fund's Technical Assistance Evaluation Program, which was launched in FY 2003. It reports on the findings of five completed evaluations, and updates the program of evaluations for FY 2007–2009. The completed evaluations featured in this paper are: (i) an evaluation of technical assistance provided by the Legal Department to Indonesia related to the strengthening of the commercial courts and the implementation of the bankruptcy law; and (ii) evaluations of technical assistance delivered by the Monetary and Financial Systems Department to Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo to strengthen capacity in the financial sector.

This book contains 21 papers focusing on a wide range of issues concerning financial sector transition in the countries of Europe and Central Asia (ECA). It places the transition economies in the context of recent and prospective developments in global financial markets. This book also evaluates the experience of the last 10 years and reviews the progress from a command financial system to a market-based one, identifying some of the key characteristics of the financial transition.

Correspondent banking relationships (CBRs), which facilitate global trade and economic activity, have been under pressure in several countries. So far, cross-border payments have remained stable and economic activity has been largely unaffected, despite a recent slight decrease in the number of CBRs. However, in a limited number of countries, financial fragilities have been accentuated as their cross-border flows are concentrated through fewer CBRs or maintained through alternative arrangements. These fragilities could undermine affected countries’ long-run growth and financial inclusion prospects by increasing costs of financial services and negatively affecting bank ratings.

"Formal pension systems are an important means of reducing poverty among the aged. In recent years, however, pension reform has become a pressing matter, as demographic aging, poor administration, early retirement, and unaffordable benefits have strained pension balances and overall public finances. Pension systems have become a source of macroeconomic instability, a constraint to economic growth, and an ineffective and/or inequitable provider of retirement income."