This paper examines the various roles of IMF financing in crisis prevention. Emerging market economies that experienced financial crises in the past have been subject to enormous economic and social costs, highlighting the importance of crisis prevention. While the main defense against a crisis lies in a country’s own policies and institutional framework, the IMF can contribute to these efforts through its surveillance activities, provision of technical assistance, and promotion of standar...

Although capital inflows are generally beneficial to recipient countries, they also pose a challenge for the conduct of economic policy. This paper proposes a conceptual taxonomy to guide the design of policy responses in the face of capital flows. We explore how responses to capital surges should be differentiated based on the source of balance of payments pressures. We also examine whether the policy choices in emerging market countries conform to the taxonomy's predictions and find some...

This collection of papers examines IMF-supported programs over the period 1995-2000 in both middle-income and low-income countries. In order to seek insights from a comparison across different types of programs, the sections entitled"Objectives and Outcomes," "Policy Formulation and Analytical Frameworks," and "Macroeconomic and Structural Policies" address a number of questions regarding the economic programs for which national authorities seek the IMF’s financial support: the specific goals...