Presents the proceedings of the March 1997 hearing before the House Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy of the Committee on Banking and Financial Services. The principal witness, Timothy F Geithner, Senior Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Monetary and Financial Policy, testified on the administration's request for Congressional authorization of additional funding for the International Monetary Fund. Prepared statements from members of Congress are included as well as written responses from the principal witness to questions submitted from members of the Subcommittee.

Central America, Panama, and the Dominican Republic coped well with the global financial crisis of 2008-09. The impact was generally less severe and shorter lived than in previous episodes, the balance of payments adjustment was orderly, and the stability of the financial system was not compromised. This resilience can be attributed to a large extent to the strengthening of the fiscal frameworks, monetary management, and financial reforms conducted in the years preceding the global crisis. Nevertheless, the region faces considerable challenges for the period ahead, including the need to raise medium term growth above historical levels and protect macroeconomic and financial stability. This book argues that meeting these challenges will have to come from within, in light of the anticipated modest demand growth from trade partners. Raising growth in the region will depend on the adoption of structural reforms that generate substantial productivity gains. Rebuilding fiscal space and securing debt sustainability will hinge on efforts to increase tax revenue and reorienting spending to social and investment priorities. In the non-officially dollarized economies, it will also be essential to strengthen the monetary policy frameworks to keep inflation low and increase exchange rate flexibility, and improve financial regulation and supervision.

Presents the proceedings of the March 1997 hearing before the House Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy of the Committee on Banking and Financial Services. The principal witness, Timothy F Geithner, Senior Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Monetary and Financial Policy, testified on the administration's request for Congressional authorization of additional funding for the International Monetary Fund. Prepared statements from members of Congress are included as well as written responses from the principal witness to questions submitted from members of the Subcommittee.

The 2007–09 international financial crisis underscored the importance of reliable and timely statistics on the general government and public sectors. Government finance statistics are a basis for fiscal analysis and they play a vital role in developing and monitoring sound fiscal programs and in conducting surveillance of economic policies. The Government Finance Statistics Manual 2014 represents a major step forward in clarifying the standards for compiling and presenting fiscal statistics and strengthens the worldwide effort to improve public sector reporting and transparency.

A recovery is underway, but the economic fallout from the global pandemic could be with us for years to come. With the crisis exacerbating prepandemic vulnerabilities, country prospects are diverging. Nearly half of emerging market and developing economies and some middle-income countries are now at risk of falling further behind, undoing much of the progress made toward achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

This Manual, which updates the first edition published in 1986, is a major advance in the standards for compilation and presentation of fiscal statistics. It is intended as a reference volume for compilers of government finance statistics, fiscal analysts, and other users of fiscal data. The Manual introduces accrual accounting, balance sheets, and complete coverage of government economic and financial activities. It covers concepts, definitions, classifications, and accounting rules, and provides a comprehensive framework for analysis, planning, and policy determination. To the extent possible, the Manual has been harmonized with the System of National Accounts 1993.

This pamphlet is adapted from Chapter 1 of Silent Revolution: The International Monetary Fund, 1979-89, by the same author. That book is full of history of the evolution of the Fund during 11 years in which the institution truly came of age as a participant in the international financial system.