This Occasional Paper provides an overview of the main challenges facing Hong Kong SAR as it continues to become more closely integrated with the mainland of China. Section I provides an overview of recent macroeconomic developments and the main policy issues in Hong Kong SAR. Section II...

The Republic of Palau is a small island economy, heavily dependent on tourism and external assistance. Economic growth has been modest in the last few years and inflation is low. The authorities launched a wide range of reform initiatives since 2001, but several important ones have stalled in...

This paper reviews the experience of the IMF’s long-term engagement in Romania and options for future IMF involvement. The unfavorable growth performance also reflected adverse conditions for private sector development. Foreign investors have welcomed the more stable macroeconomic...

This paper examines Croatia’s 2004 Article IV Consultation and Request for Stand-By Arrangement (SBA). Croatia has established a record of solid growth and low inflation since the mid-1990s. Real GDP growth has averaged about 4.5 percent, with inflation in the low single digits. This...

This paper studies, in the context of a New Open Economy Macroeconomics (NOEM) model, the effects of "public competition policies" aimed at improving the efficiency of public spending. Such measures are modeled as an increase in the price elasticity of public consumption. The paper finds that...

We look into Brazil's public sector accounts during the two administrations of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso: 1995-98 and 1998-2002. We underline the fact that the authorities' attitude was as important as the pace of the structural reforms for understanding the dynamics of the public...

In recent years, fiscal performance in Central Europe has steadily deteriorated, in contrast to the improvement in the Baltics. This paper explores the determinants of such differences among countries slated for EU accession. Regression estimates suggest that economic and institutional...

The optimal design of credit contracts and bankruptcy procedures is an important policy question both in developed market economies and in countries with emerging markets. In this paper I deal with several theoretical considerations related to these important policy problems. My main concern is...

The staff report for the 2004 Article IV Consultation on the Kingdom of the Netherlands—Netherlands highlights the economic developments and policies. The economy is beginning to emerge from an extended downturn. Meanwhile, against a background of soft labor market conditions and economic...

This 2004 Article IV Consultation highlights that real GDP growth in Nigeria accelerated in 2003 on account of sharply higher oil and gas production and continued robust growth in the non-oil economy. Owing to favorable terms-of-trade developments, the external current account deficit narrowed...