#1999-003A "The End of Moderate Inflation in Three Transition Economies?"
by Josef C. Brada, and Ali M. Kutan


This paper examines the ending of moderate rates of inflation in three transition economies, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland at the end of 1998. We argue that the institutions for the conduct of monetary policy in these countries were relatively weak and that monetary policy was unsupported by fiscal policy and hampered by multiple objectives. More...

#1998-021A "The Persistence of Moderate Inflation in the Czech Republic and the Koruna Crisis of May 1997"
by Ali M. Kutan, and Josef C. Brada


Macroeconomic policy in the Czech Republic has been based on a fixed exchange rate for most of the post-1993 period and a conservative fiscal policy characterized by a government budget that was close to balance combined with a tight monetary policy that sought to maintain high interest rates and to restrict the growth of the money supply. Surprisingly, given the Czech Republic’s good starting conditions for carrying out such a “soft landing” in its macroeconomic stabilization, the economy was hit by a speculative attack on the koruna in May, 1997, and the economy, which had shown some signs of an increasing tempo of growth, appears to have slid into recession. More...

PUBLISHED: Prague Economic Papers, December 1999