The staff report on Belarus’ Third Review under the Stand-By Arrangement is examined. Belarus is beginning to emerge from the crisis. Output loss has been limited relative to neighbors, inflation has fallen, the foreign exchange market has stabilized, and de-dollarization is under way,...

This paper discusses key findings of the Sixth Review Under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) for The Gambia. Recent performance under the ECF-supported program continued to be broadly satisfactory. All quantitative performance criteria for end-September 2009 were achieved, except for the...

Armenia’s third review under the Stand-By Arrangement and its request for Waiver of Nonobservance of Performance Criterion are discussed. The uptick in inflation was largely driven by exogenous factors, but it is important that these do not feed into further inflationary expectations. The...

This paper examines the Maldives’ 2009 Article IV Consultation on economic developments and policies. The Maldivian economy is facing large external and fiscal imbalances, resulting from the severe impact of the global financial crisis and exacerbated by an unsustainable fiscal expansion....

This 2009 Article IV Consultation highlights that the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’s vulnerability at the outset of the global crisis was its large current account deficit in the context of the exchange rate peg to the euro. At the same time, it benefited from a small fiscal...

This paper discusses key findings of the Second and Third Reviews under the Stand-By Arrangement for Romania. Most end-December 2009 quantitative performance criteria were met. The ceiling on the accumulation of domestic arrears at end-September was missed, and preliminary data suggest the...

Chile’s economy has withstood successfully two consecutive large negative shocks—the global financial crisis and the February 2010 earthquake. The financial system has weathered the crisis well and the cyclical deterioration of credit quality has been moderate. Large-scale private...

This note summarizes the main arguments put forward by some market commentators who argue that default is inevitable, and presents a rebuttal for each argument in turn. Their main arguments focus on the size of the adjustment and continued market concerns reflected in government bond spreads....

Low-income countries continue to face significant challenges in meeting their vast development needs while maintaining a sustainable debt position, even after many of these countries have benefited from substantial debt relief. These challenges are further exacerbated by changes in the financial...