Crisis prevention starts at the national level. With this in mind, the international community has engaged in an intensive global effort to help emerging markets reduce their vulnerability to crisis. Substantial improvements in national balance sheet management, including reduced short-term external debt burdens and substantial increases in reserve cushions. Increased transparency .
Disclosure is the foundation of any well-functioning financial system.
The international community has made enhanced disclosure a major priority - resulting in dramatic improvements in the quality of information available to markets. Major emerging market countries now make available a much broader array of information about their performance and prospects, including reserves and related liabilities, external debt burdens and overall policy programs. International financial institutions both encourage and contribute to the increased flow of information - releasing more details of their own operations, advice to governments, and assessments of compliance with international standards and codes. More effective crisis response . The institutions at the core of the international financial system are now equipped with instruments to respond quickly and effectively to impending crises in a manner that reduces moral hazard and helps restore the flow of private capital.