Fiscal problems have long been considered a central feature of financial--that is, currency, debt, and banking--crises. This paper addresses four questions: What are the fiscal causes of crises? Which fiscal vulnerability indicators help to predict crises? Can fiscal variables explain the...

This paper analyzes the Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes on fiscal transparency for the United States. It assesses fiscal transparency practices in the United States against the requirements of the IMF Code of Good Practices on Fiscal Transparency. It reviews the description of...

This report assesses the Observance of Standards and Codes on Fiscal Transparency for the Republic of Kazakhstan. The fiscal reporting and dissemination of information in Kazakhstan has already achieved a sound level of practice, and can be built upon with relatively little further effort....

This report provides an assessment of fiscal transparency practices in Rwanda against the requirements of the IMF Code of Good Practices on Fiscal Transparency. First, there is a description of practice, prepared by the IMF staff on the basis of discussions with the authorities and their...

The Mauritian economy showed strong performance owing to its sound macroeconomic policies. Executive Directors emphasized the need to remain competitive and address the growing unemployment problem. They commended the efforts to support the developments in financial services, free port...

This report assesses the Observance of Standards and Codes on Fiscal Transparency for Bangladesh. Bangladesh has made significant progress in recent years toward addressing longstanding problems of fiscal reporting and meeting basic requirements of fiscal transparency. Measures are in hand to...

This Selected Issues paper analyzes fiscal developments and the sustainability of the current fiscal stance in Poland. It analyzes fiscal risks and fiscal vulnerability by investigating the contingent liabilities of the government and by performing stress tests to gauge the exposure of the...

Unlike conventional fiscal sustainability assessments, the Value-at-Risk approach developed in this paper explicitly captures the contribution of key risk variables to public sector vulnerability. In an illustrative application to Ecuador, the VaR approach confirms a significant risk of...

This paper discusses the foundations for a medium-term fiscal framework for Bulgaria, a transition economy aspiring to join the European Union. The paper argues that a well-designed framework can help to enhance the credibility of macroeconomic policies and facilitate preparations for EU...