IMF Policy Discussion Papers

International Trade in Services: Implications for the Fund

By Natalia T. Tamirisa, Alexander Lehmann, Jaroslaw Wieczorek

December 1, 2003

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Natalia T. Tamirisa, Alexander Lehmann, and Jaroslaw Wieczorek. International Trade in Services: Implications for the Fund, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2003) accessed September 19, 2024
Disclaimer: This Policy Dicussion Paper should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF.The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate

Summary

This paper reviews the characteristics of international trade in services and of the World Trade Organization’s General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) framework, which was established to regulate it. Further liberalization of services trade in developing countries, as currently envisaged in the context of the WTO Doha Development Agenda, holds a number of potential benefits, such as underpinning the liberalization of goods trade, but it is also being resisted due to its potential adjustment costs. Two implications for IMF activities are examined: coherence among the three principal international economic institutions and sequencing with macroeconomic stabilization and regulatory reforms.

Subject: Economic sectors, Financial services, International trade, Privatization, Services sector, Trade in services, Trade liberalization

Keywords: Africa, Capital account, Cargo services, Central America, Coherence, Cross-border trade, Global, Goods trade, IMF mission, IMF surveillance, International services trade, Liberalization commitment, Liberalization of services trade, Member country, PDP, Privatization, Service sector liberalization, Service trade liberalization, Services sector, Services trade, Services transaction, Trade in service, Trade in services, Trade liberalization, Trade measure, WTO

Publication Details

  • Pages:

    25

  • Volume:

    ---

  • DOI:

    ---

  • Issue:

    ---

  • Series:

    Policy Discussion Paper No. 2003/006

  • Stock No:

    PPIEA0062003

  • ISBN:

    9781451972207

  • ISSN:

    1564-5193