In this homework you will try to assess your country's macroeconomic situation. The joint output of this problem set will be a ranking of our countries from the most creditworthy to the least.  Our ranking should provide a forward looking indication of the relative risk that a country will have the ability and willingness to make full and timely payments of principal and interest over the life of their sovereign debt. The key to such ranking is a thorough analysis based on macroeconomic principals and up-to-date data.

Part I:

In this part you will calculate a number of economic indicators which may point to countries credit worthiness. Once you have calculated the above statistics email them to me by Sunday 6:00 p.m. You will use two sources of information: the IFS and the joint BIS-IMF-OECD-World Bank statistics on external debt. By now you should be familiar with the IFS. The joint BIS-IMF-OECD-World Bank web site has the most comprehensive and timely information on external debt. Read the description of available series in the background summary. You can access the data for your country using this table. Try to use as recent information as possible. Combine the information from the BIS-IMF-OECD-World Bank website and the information from the IFS to calculate the following indicators:

• the stock of total external debt(lines A through F) to GDP
• the stock of total external debt to international reserves(line N)
• the stock of external debt due within a year(lines G through I) to GDP
• the stock of external debt due within a year to international reserves
• current account deficit as percent of GDP

Part II:

Many aspects of a country's economic prospects can not be captured using a simple economic indicator. A very good source of more narrative information on economic situation in countries of the world is the IMF. Their web site has a section on publications and news releases concerning every member country.  It includes news on policies which countries adopted, discussions of transactions with the IMF and staff reports on economic developments. A particularly useful information is included in "article IV consultations" which is a comprehensive assessment of country's economic policies, background and economic indicators. Prepare a 3-4 minute presentation on the latest developments in your country and their relevance.