Financial globalization has increased dramatically over the past three decades, particularly for advanced economies, while emerging market and developing countries experienced more moderate increases. Divergences across countries stem from different capital control regimes, and factors such as...

With much healthcare publicly funded, Hong Kong's rapidly aging population will significant raise fiscal pressure over coming decades. We ask what the implications are of meeting these costs by public funding, or private funding voluntarily or through mandates. Our simulations suggest that...

Recent literature argues that conflict in shifting adjustment costs between different socioeconomic groups delays necessary reforms and finds that such reforms often follow economic crises. This paper expands these models by including external borrowing by the private sector and shows that this...

In this paper we construct a standard CGE model to explore the impact of scaling up infrastructure in Mali. As the debate on the importance of scaling up infrastructure to stimulate growth and provide a push to African economies, some analyst raise concern on financing these infrastructures...

This paper analyzes progress on the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper—Country Development Strategy (PRSP–CDS) in the Kyrgyz Republic for 2007–10. The CDS is the most important concept paper that outlines midterm vision of the Kyrgyz Republic. The paper also discusses that...

This report reviews the Emergency Post-Conflict Assistance (EPCA) given to Lebanon after the conflict with Israel in 2006. The five-week conflict with Israel in 2006 and the month-long blockade that followed inflicted a heavy human and economic toll on Lebanon. EPCA would provide an appropriate...

This paper presents Peru’s First Review Under the Stand-By Arrangement for SDR 172.37 million approved on January 26, 2007. Implementing sound macroeconomic policies and reforms would reduce vulnerabilities, entrench sustainable growth, and reduce poverty, setting the stage for a strong...

This Selected Issues paper focuses on the fiscal challenge for Belgium in coping with population aging, including the sustainability of prevailing fiscal federalism arrangements across all levels of governments. The analysis demonstrates that the current strategy of upfront consolidation is...

The staff report for the 2006 Article IV Consultation on Antigua and Barbuda highlights the economic backdrop and outlook for restoring sound public finances. The government of Antigua and Barbuda has adopted an ambitious reform program in its endeavor to pull the economy from decades of fiscal...