Tables 1 and 2 depict the descriptive statistics, correlation and covariance matrix for both
IT and non-IT groups. The real GDP growth rate for non-IT countries (12.25%) is
higher than IT countries (8.34%). The inflation rate, on average, is slightly lower for IT
countries (6.37%) compared with non-IT countries (6.64%).8 The dispersion of the
inflation rate in IT countries is much smaller as compared with the non-IT countries,9
and is well kept within the targeted boundaries. The nominal interest rate for non-IT is
2.6 points lower than IT countries. The real exchange rate is also higher (5.48%)
compared with non-IT countries (3.16%).