Financial Development in Arab Countries

Over the 1990s, several Arab countries made substantial progress in financial reform as part of extensive structural adjustment programmes. The reform aimed at transforming the economy into a market-driven economy dominated by the private sector, improve the capacity of financial institutions to mobilise domestic savings, improve the effectiveness of monetary policy, and strengthen financial soundness. The design, sequence and speed of financial reforms varied across Arab countries._x000D_ _x000D_ This book is divided into two parts: Part one focuses on banking sector in nine Arab countries. It includes four papers that tackle issues related to operational efficiency, service quality and risk in Arab banking. Part two is devoted to stock markets in Arab countries where authors discuss and examine a variety of issues related to efficiency, volatility, hedging, and returns. The included papers are essentially technical and use the most up-to-date statistical and econometrics analysis. _x000D_