CCBS
Publications
Central Banking in Developing Countries -
Objectives, Activities and Independence
By Maxwell J. Fry, Charles A.E Goodhart and Alvaro Almeida
This book examines the objectives, activities and independence of central banks in developing countries. It is based on macroeconomic data from IMF and World bank sources as well as detailed questionnaire responses from central banks in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. It explores the practical problems faced by these central banks over the past 15 years in confronting government demands for monetary financing, formulating and implementing monetary policy, choosing and maintaining an exchange rate regime, supervising their financial systems, as well as enhancing their status and independence.
The book covers three general topics: government financing, foreign exchange systems and the development of domestic banking system. In all three areas central banks in developing countries face environments that differ radically from the environments faced by central banks in the richer OECD countries. In particular, they face difficulties with uncompetitive financial systems and the endemic problem of government finance. However, positive changes are now occurring, especially as the benefits of price stability become widely accepted. The book is in a clear and easy-to-use format with generous use of tables, figures and boxed material.
This book is published in association with the Bank of England and presents an authoritative assessment of the role of central banks in developing countries.
