Public Information Notice: IMF Executive Board Reviews Fund's Work on International Trade April 11, 2005

Review of Fund Work on Trade
February 7, 2005

Trade Conditionality Under Fund-Supported Programs, 1990-2004
(Background Paper to the Review of Fund Work on Trade)
February 14, 2005

Dealing with the Revenue Consequences of Trade Reform
(Background Paper for Review of Fund Work on Trade)
February 15, 2005


Review of the IMF's Trade Restrictiveness Index
(Background Paper to the Review of Fund Work on Trade)
Prepared by the Policy Development and Review Department
February 14, 2005

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Contents

  1. Introduction

  2. The Original Trade Restrictiveness Index

  3. Uses of the Trade Restrictiveness Index

    1. Intended Use
    2. Use in Trade Policy Surveillance

  4. Shortcomings of the Trade Restrictiveness Index

    1. Problems with the Tariff Rating
    2. Problems with the NTB Rating
    3. Problems with the Overall Rating

  5. The Total Tariff Equivalent

  6. Alternative Measures of Trade Restrictiveness

    1. Market Access Maps (MacMaps)
    2. Anderson and Neary's Mercantilist Trade Restrictiveness Index
    3. World Bank's Overall Trade Restrictiveness Index (WB-OTRI)
    4. Index of Economic Freedom (Heritage Foundation)
    5. Price-Gap Measures
    6. Supplemental Indicators

  7. Conclusions

Tables

  1. UNCTADs TRAINS Non Tariff Barrier Data
  2. Nontariff Data Sources Recommended by Cline
  3. Quad Countries: Estimate of Total Tariff Equivalent Using National Authorities' Data
  4. Comparison of Restrictiveness Indicators

Figure

  1. Distribution of Tariff Index

References