Responding to Shocks and Maintaining Stability in the West African Economic and Monetary Union

Christina Kolerus, Aleksandra Zdzienicka, Ermal Hitaj and Douglas Shapiro

No 2013/007, IMF Departmental Papers / Policy Papers from International Monetary Fund

Abstract: The West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), like other monetary unions, faces a number of challenges in dealing with macroeconomic shocks. The region experiences a large number of exogenous shocks: climate-related (e.g., droughts, floods), with a heavy toll on populations and agriculture, but also economic (e.g., terms of trade), with a large impact on key sectors and the cost of living. More generally business cycle synchronization within the WAEMU seems low. Addressing these shocks, while preserving the stability of the union, is therefore a critical issue in the WAEMU.This paper discusses these issues and suggests possible reforms.

Keywords: DPPP; DP; WAEMU country; financial market; exchange rate; business cycle; current account; trade elasticity; WAEMU government securities market; excess reserves; exports to Mali; Monetary unions; Debt sustainability; Debt sustainability analysis; Business cycles; West Africa; Global (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 41
Date: 2013-10-22
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.aspx?sk=40676 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:imf:imfdps:2013/007

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/pubs/ord_info.htm

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in IMF Departmental Papers / Policy Papers from International Monetary Fund International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC USA. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Akshay Modi ().