Country insurance
Subtitle: the role of domestic politics
By: Torbjörn Becker...[et. al.]
Contributors: Becker, Torbjörn.; International Monetary Fund.
Series: Occasional paper -- 254.; Occasional paper (International Monetary Fund) -- 254.
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Published: 2007
Place of publication: Washington, DC
Language: eng
Number of pages: 36
ISBN-13: 9781589066076
Subjects: Balance of payments -- Developing countries; Debts, Public -- Developing countries; Reserves (Accounting) -- Developing countries; Financial crises -- Developing countries; Debt service -- Developing countries
Description: "Countries face a range of shocks that can contribute to higher volatility in aggregate output and, in extreme cases, to economic crises.  The presence of such risks underlies a potential demand for mechanism to soften the blow from adverse economic shocks.  Such a protective infrastructure is referred to in this paper as "country insurance." Protective measures that countries can take themselves ("self-insurance") include sound economic policies, robust financial structures, and adequate reserve coverage. Beyond self-insurance, countries have also established regional arrangements that pool risks while, at the multilateral level, the IMF plays a central role through the temporary provision of its resources when shocks create balance of payments difficulties for a member, and through the policy advice it provides under surveillance.  The Occasional paper focuses on what countries can do on their own -- that is, on the role of domestic policies -- with respect to country insurance."--Preface.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 32-34).
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: Insurance against what? : shocks and their costs; title: Sound fundamentals and liability structures; title: Self-insurance through international reserves; title: Conclusion; title: Appendex I. Data sources and definitions; title: Appendix II. Behavior of different types of financial flow; title: Appendix III. A model of optimal reserves.