Despite the appreciation of the exchange rate, the eight Central and Eastern European countries (the CEE-8) that entered the European Union in May 2004 have achieved a decade of impressive export growth, expanding significantly their shares of world markets. Does this mean that the real exchange...

The Russian tariffstructure contains over 11,000 tariff lines of which about 1,700 use the so-called"combined"tariff rate system. For the combined system tariff lines, the actual tariff applied by Russian customs is the maximum of the ad valorem or specific tariff. The lack of available data and...

The 2006 Article IV Consultation on Rwanda highlights medium-term stimulating growth to reduce poverty. The government of Rwanda’s medium-term policies address the country’s challenges to increase growth and make headway toward the Millennium Development Goals. Executive Directors...

This Selected Issues paper applies a range of methods to assess Italy’s competitiveness gap versus other euro area members. All indicators point to a clear erosion of competitiveness in recent years, with related market share losses. Nonetheless, the estimated competitiveness gap, while...

The 2007 Article IV Consultation with the Kingdom of the Netherlands explains fiscal policy and financial sector issues. Improvements in the macroeconomic and business environments and technological innovation have contributed positively to Dutch competitiveness. Executive Directors emphasized...

This 2006 Article IV Consultation highlights that with generally prudent macroeconomic policies, Namibia has enjoyed robust growth, moderate inflation, and strong external surpluses. Growth is expected to increase to 4½ percent in 2006, after 4¼ percent in 2005, owing in part to a recovery...

The 2007 Article IV Consultation highlights Togo’s developments and performance under the Staff-Monitored Program (SMP). Togolese banks have the highest nonperforming loan (NPL) ratio in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) area, reflecting primarily past lending to...

This 2006 Article IV Consultation highlights that economic performance of the Czech Republic strengthened during 2005–06, supported by the expanding capacity of the export-oriented automotive sector and a cyclical recovery in the European Union. The momentum of growth has been underpinned...