"This book is based on a high-level seminar that took place in Algiers on November 4th and 5th, 2010, under the title Natural Resources, Finance, and Development: Confronting Old and New Challenges. The seminar, organized by the Central Bank of Algeria and the IMF Institute ..."--Page 1

Overview / Leslie Lipschitz -- Commodity markets and the macroeconomy -- Natural resource endowment : a mixed blessing? / Thorvaldur Gylfason -- Primary commodities : historical perspectives and prospects / Marian Radetzki -- Economic diversification and the role of finance -- Economic diversification in resource-rich countries / Alan Gelb -- Finance and oil : is there a resource curse? / Thorsten Beck -- The economics of sovereign wealth funds : lessons from Norway / Thomas Ekeli and Amadou N.R. Sy -- Fiscal policy -- Primary commodity price series : lessons for policymakers in resource-rich countries / Kaddour Hadri -- Sustainable fiscal policy for mineral-base economies / Kirk Hamilton and Eduardo Ley -- Fiscal policy in commodity-exporting countries : stability and growth / Rabah Arezki -- Exchange rates and financial stability -- How can commodity exporters make fiscal and monetary policy less procyclical? / Jeffrey Frankel -- Natural resources management and financial stability : evidence from Algeria / Mohammed Laksaci -- Copper, the real exchange rate and macroeconomic fluctuations in Chile / José de Gregorio and Felipe Labbé -- Governance and institutional aspects -- The political economy of reform in resource-rich countries / Ragnar Torvik -- Terms of trade and growth of resource economies : contrasting evidence from two African countries / Augustin Kwasi Fosu and Anthony Owusu Gyapong.

Countries with an abundance of natural resources, many of which are in sub-Saharan Africa, often show a record of relatively poor economic performance compared with non-resource-rich countries. The chapters in this volume explore the potential challenges to countries with abundant natural resources and ways to manage these challenges so as to reap the benefits of resource wealth while avoiding the pitfalls. The book is divided into five sections, which explore commodity markets and the macroeconomy, economic diversification and the role of finance, fiscal policy, exchange rates and financial stability, and governance. The ideas in this book were first presented at a seminar in November 2010 that was aimed primarily at policymakers in sub-Saharan Africa and brought together ministers, central bank governors, other senior policymakers, and well-known academics