2007), “Financial Development: Maturing and Emerging Policy Issues

In recent decades, financial development policies in emerging market economies have been shaped by a fundamental shift toward market-based financial systems and the lessons from financial crises. Today, there is consensus that financial development depends on financial stability and convergence toward international standards. While the debate on some issues has matured, policy thinking in other areas is changing, fueled by recent experiences. This article analyzes the evolution of policy thinking on financial development and discusses three areas that are important to achieving deeper financial systems: stock market development, small- and medium-size enterprise financing, and defined-contribution pension systems. The main emerging issues in these areas are illustrated using recent experiences in Latin America. The article concludes that there is a need to take a fresh look at the evidence, improve diagnoses, and revisit expectations. JEL codes: F36, G15, G18, G20. Policymakers concerned with financial development in emerging market econo-mies face an increasingly complex and perplexing situation. Despite the many efforts already undertaken to improve the macroeconomic environment and reform the institutions believed to foster financial development, financial markets in most emerging economies remain relatively underdeveloped. The more stable, internationalized, and better regulated financial systems of today do not seem to be contributing to social and economic development as much as expected at the beginning of the reform process. This has left policymakers with no clear guidance on how to move forward on the financial market development process and has brought to the forefront of policymakers ’ agenda some big emerging issues in critical areas of financial development that have not been adequately addressed in the policy debate. These issues have emerged after other important policy issues have been settled and as experience has started to sho