A major element of the persistent fiscal imbalances in Guinea-Bissau is the relatively low level of revenue compared with other sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. Fiscal revenues, including grants, trended downward significantly in Guinea-Bissau from 1991 through 2005, especially during the...

This Selected Issues paper explores the economic consequences of aging and its impact on long-term fiscal sustainability for Cyprus. The study analyzes the potential macroeconomic impact of different approaches to deal with the fiscal costs of aging. It goes beyond a simple quantification of the...

This Selected Issues paper for the Russian Federation discusses existing empirical efforts to measure the determinants of cross-country financial integration. Empirical studies that have adopted the gravity-model framework have found that it is generally successful in explaining bilateral...

In recent years, the IMF has released a growing number of reports and other documents covering economic and financial developments and trends in member countries. Each report, prepared by a staff team after discussions with government officials, is published at the option of the member country.

This Selected Issues paper on Chile assesses the long-term outlook of Chile’s private pension system. The paper provides an overview of Chile’s recent experience with public–private partnerships (PPPs), focusing on the design of its institutional framework. The paper...

This paper reviews economic developments in the Republic of Mozambique during 1990–96. Under the Economic and Social Rehabilitation Program (ESRP), the economy has made impressive economic gains. Real GDP growth averaged 6.7 percent in 1987–95, despite the civil war, a decline in...

This paper assesses Romania’s Third Review Under the Stand-By Arrangement and a Request for Waiver of Performance Criterion. Romania’s macroeconomic performance continued to be favorable, but slippages in wage policy and privatization delayed the completion of the third review....

This Selected Issues paper and Statistical Appendix analyzes labor market institutions and reforms for Cyprus. The paper describes the legal and institutional framework of the Cypriot labor market, and discusses the voluntary framework for negotiations, the degree of unionization and the system...

This Selected Issues paper reviews developments during 2001–02 in the Belarusian pension system, and discusses potential short- and medium-term reforms needed to put pension system finances on a sustainable path. The paper presents a short overview of demographic trends and developments...