The macroeconomic performance for Lao People’s Democratic Republic is encouraging, but underlying fragilities remain. Progress needs to be made on structural reforms. On the fiscal side, the immediate challenge is to avoid an unsustainable expansion of spending. The medium-term priority...

The economy has performed strongly. The government has lowered the target for the combined public sector deficit. The prospects for sustained growth over the medium term are favorable, in view of the robust growth in nonresidential investment and exports. Fiscal policy will remain on a...

This paper focuses on Senegal’s Third and Fourth Reviews Under the Three-Year Arrangement Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) and Request for Waiver of Performance Criteria. Program implementation in 2005 was uneven. Most performance criteria (PCs) for the third and...

Major political developments have taken place in Nepal since the Executive Board concluded the Article IV Consultation in January 2006. The Koirala government is keen on early resumption of the IMF-supported program to help maintain macroeconomic stability. The international community has...

The staff report for the Second Review Under the Stand-By Arrangement and Requests for Waiver of Performance Criteria highlights Bulgaria’s economic growth, fiscal policy, and reforms. The economic program for 2006 relies on fiscal and credit restraint to rein in demand and strengthen the...

Prudent macroeconomic policies helped Turkey to achieve economic growth under the Stand-By Arrangement. Executive Directors welcomed this development and stressed the need to widen the account deficit. They emphasized the need of a strong budget, powerful monetary and fiscal policies, and...

Burundi is emerging from more than a decade of civil conflict that started with the 1993 coup d’état against its first elected government. Macroeconomic developments in 2005 were broadly in line with the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) program, although growth was lower at about...

This 2005 Article IV Consultation highlights that despite a difficult political environment, economic growth in Ecuador is estimated to have exceeded 3 percent in 2005, with the non-oil sector expanding by 3½ percent. The strong growth in the oil sector that followed the completion of the new...

This 2005 Article IV Consultation highlights that Palau’s economic growth has picked up in recent years while inflation has been low. After several years of slow growth, real GDP grew by 5 percent in FY2004 and FY2005, driven by a steady increase in visitor arrivals with the start of new...

Real output growth of the Republic of the Marshall Islands appears to have slowed sharply in FY2003 and again in FY2004. The 2005 Article IV Consultation highlights that the economic activity has been hampered by delays in implementing an upgraded public works program and the closure of a large...