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Drawing on survey responses from 34 Asian economies and country case studies, this note takes stock of recent developments related to central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and crypto assets in Asia. The survey finds that there is significant heterogeneity in terms of stage of development, but the emergence of private crypto assets has created an impetus to consider CBDCs. While most countries are engaged in research and development, with some at advanced stages of testing and pilots, very few countries are likely to issue CBDCs in the near-to-medium term, reflecting the still considerable uncertainties. Still, country experiences so far provide some key insights for others in their journey in this area.
Asia has made significant progress in financial inclusion, but both its across-country and intra-country disparities are among the highest in the world. The gaps between the rich and the poor, rural and urban populations, and men and women remain deep. Income is the main determinant of the level of financial inclusion; but other factors, such as geography, financial sector structure, and policies, also play important roles. While some countries in the Asia-Pacific region are leaders in fintech, on average the region lags behind others in several important areas such as online (internet) purchases, electronic payments, mobile money, and mobile government transfers. This Departmental Paper aim...
The Sri Lankan authorities have embarked on an ambitious reform of its public debt management functions. There is consensus that the fragmented public debt management (PDM) legal framework and PDM functions across departments within the MoF and the CBSL have contributed to the lack of coherent management of the public debt in Sri Lanka. It has also contributed to a lack of comprehensive public debt reporting and management of public guarantees, reducing debt transparency. A joint IMF-World Bank Technical Assistance mission—which visited Colombo on February 20 – March 3, 2023 to assist the Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilization, and National Policies (MoF) in developing a public debt...
This paper documents the expanding economic linkages between low-income countries (LICs) and a narrow group of "Emerging Market leaders" that have become major players in regional and global trade and financial flows. VAR models show that these linkages have increased the share of growth volatility that can be attributed to foreign shocks in LICs. Dynamic panel models further analyze the impact of LIC trade orientation and production structure on the sensitivity to foreign shocks. The empirical results demonstrate that the elasticity of growth to trading partners' growth is high for LICs in Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe and Central Asia. However, for commodity-exporting LICs in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, terms of trade shocks and demand from the emerging market leaders are the main channels of transmission of foreign shocks.
Reform efforts are bearing fruit with the economy starting to recover, inflation remaining low, revenue collection improving, and reserves continuing to accumulate. Performance under the program, the design of which benefitted from the 2021 Article IV recommendations, has been strong. Nevertheless, the economy is still vulnerable and the path to debt sustainability remains knife-edge. Sri Lanka faces considerable uncertainties associated with the upcoming presidential elections and ongoing debt restructuring. Sustaining the reform momentum is critical to safeguarding the hard-earned gains and ensuring Sri Lanka can emerge from one of its most severe economic crises.
Including thirty-four chapters written by academics and experts in the field of international political economy, The Oxford Handbook of Economic Imperialism examines the history of economic imperialism from the early modern age to the present. The Handbook demonstrates the persistence of economic imperialism in today's postcolonial world, and the enduring control wielded by great powers even after the end of formal empire. Moreover, the Handbook reveals how emerging powers are expanding economic control in new geographic and geopolitical contexts, and highlights the significance of economic imperialism in the structures, relations, processes, and ideas that sustain poverty and conflict worldwide.