Egypt has a new prime minister and a new economic reform programme, but will anything change? How will the new government of Dr Ahmed Nazif provide the economic stimulus the country desperately needs? Stephen Timewell reports.

After years of mismanagement, the Central African States Development Bank has made a remarkable financial recovery in just three years, under the stewardship of president Anicet Georges Dologuélé. By Fabien Buliard.
The Central African States Development Bank (La Banque de Développement des Etats de l’Afrique Centrale – BDEAC) is sparing no effort to restore its credibility, following a period of dormancy throughout the 1990s in which it ceased all lending activities to focus on reimbursing its debt and recovering a staggering amount of outstanding payments.

Can Costa Rica – traditionally stable compared with its central American neighbours – preserve its tradition of consensus building and move ahead with liberal economic reforms? Jane Monahan reports.
The question mark over Costa Rica’s economic future came into sharp focus when the finance minister, Alberto Dent, resigned on September 3, at a time of mounting opposition to his package of economic reforms.

Welcome to Texas, where global banking heavyweights are racing to cater to the banking needs of the fast-growing Hispanic population. Monica Campbell reports.
In Texas, as in other Hispanic US states, such as California, Florida and New York, both foreign and US banks are rushing to cater to a Hispanic market that they merely dabbled in not so long ago.
It is easy to see why Hispanics are finally getting attention. The Hispanic population is the fastest-growing minority group in the US, and it is predicted to grow from 14% of the country’s population – 40 million people – to 24% by 2050, according to the US government.

The Philippine government is taking significant steps to improve the country’s economy. But much still needs to be done. Stephen Timewell reports.

Prime Minister John Howard’s re-election is a reflection of the conservatism that pervades the country and its banking sector, says Stephen Timewell in Melbourne.

Central Europeans’ appetite for more sophisticated and varied products is growing, providing the region’s big retail banks with an opportunity to cash in. The mutual fund business, in particular, could benefit, reports Nicholas Spiro.

A report by Austria’s Raiffeisen International on the banking markets in 20 central and European countries paints a picture of privatisation and enormous potential. Stephen Timewell reports.

The Banker’s listing of Foreign-owned Banks in London, shows the UK capital still has pulling power.

Germany’s small and medium-sized enterprises are turning to structured finance products to provide the credit they sometimes struggle to find, says Jan F Wagner.
German bankers may not like to admit it, but for the first time in post-war German history, the country’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), known collectively as the Mittelstand, face a credit crunch.
According to a new survey by KfW, the government-owned development bank, nearly half the Mittelstand say that obtaining a bank loan – its main means of finance – has become “considerably more difficult”. KfW also found that three-quarters of the SMEs turned down for a loan would have paid a higher interest rate to get it.