Macroeconomic issues and policies in the Middle East and North Africa.
Contributors: International Monetary Fund.
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Published: 2001
Place of publication: Washington, DC
Language: eng
Number of pages: 370
Subjects: Middle East -- Economic conditions -- 1979-; Middle East -- Economic policy.; Africa, North -- Economic conditions.; Africa, North -- Economic policy.
Description: This book brings together recent research bt IMF staff on how the region's countries are grappling with these challenges. It rigorously analyzes policy alternatives for a range of relevant topics-including the implications of changing demographic trends for growth and unemployment, determinants of inflation, financial-sector reform and Islamic banking, fiscal sustainability in oil-dependent economies, exchange rate and trade arrangements, and impediments to foreign direct investment. The book's overall theme is that self-sustaining and faster growth can be achieved through compehensive structural reforms and closer collaboration between the region's policymakers and the international community.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
Table of contents: title: Preface / Horst Köhler; title: Acknowledgments; title: Economic challenges in the Middle East and North Africa; title: an overview / Zubair Iqbal; title: pt. 1. Selected macroeconomic and financial issues. Demographic transition in the Middle East: implications for growth, employment, and housing / Pierre Dhonte, Rina Bhattacharya, and Tarik Yousef; title: Determinants of inflation in the Islamic Republic of Iran; title: a macroeconomic analysis / Olin Liu and Olumuyiwa S. Adedeji; title: Financial liberalization in Arab countries / Karim Nashashibi, Mohamad Elhage, and Annalisa Fedelino; title: Monetary operations and government debt management under Islamic banking / V. Sundararajan, David Marston, and Ghiath Shabsigh; title: Addendum: Recent developments in Islamic banking / Ghiath Shabsigh; title: Fiscal sustainability with nonrenewable resources / Nigel Chalk; title: pt. 2. External policies. External stability under alternative nominal exchange rate anchors: an application to the Gulf Cooperation Council countries / S. Nuri Erbaș, Zubair Iqbal, and Chera L. Sayers; title: Real exchange rate behavior and economic growth in the Arab Republic of Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia / Ilker Domac̦ and Ghiath Shabsigh; title: Exchange rate unification, the equilibrium real exchange rate, and the choice of exchange rate regime: the case of the Islamic Republic of Iran / V. Sundararajan, Michel Lazare, and Sherwyn E. Williams; title: Addendum: Exchange system reforms in the Islamic Republic of Iran: a note on past and current experiences / Ghiath Shabsigh; title: Export performance and competitiveness in Arab countries / Karim Nashashibi, Ward Brown, and Annalisa Fedelino; title: The impact of European Union Association agreements on Mediterranean countries / Henri Ghesquiere; title: Addendum: Implementation of the European Union Association agreements / Daniel Hardy, Nicole Laframboise, and Edouard Martin; title: Estimating trade protection in Middle Eastern and North African countries / Maria-Angels Oliva.