KEY ISSUES Outlook and risks. The economy will remain vulnerable over the medium term, with sluggish real GDP growth, rising public debt and widening external current account deficits. International reserves could decline to uncomfortably low levels. The financial system would continue to be...

KEY ISSUES Context. Georgia’s previous Fund-supported program, which expired in April 2014, met most of its objectives, in particular by reducing Georgia’s external and fiscal imbalances. The program also helped preserve the central bank’s independence after the...

This 2014 Article IV Consultation highlights that Turkey’s economy has grown on average by 6 percent annually since 2010, but this has come at the expense of a large external deficit, making the economy sensitive to changes in external financing conditions. Macroeconomic policies have...

This paper discusses key findings of the pilot Fiscal Transparency Evaluation for the Russian Federation. Most aspects of Russia’s fiscal reporting and budgeting practices are in line with good or advanced practice under the July 2013 draft of the Fiscal Transparency Code. The disclosure...

This paper discusses Guinea’s Third Review Under the Three-Year Arrangement Under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF), and Financing Assurances Review. The macroeconomic environment in 2013 was difficult, reflecting the fragile socio-political situation and a sharp slowdown in mining...

This paper assesses Pakistan’s Second Review Under the Extended Arrangement and Request for Waivers of Non-Observance of Performance Criteria. Discussions focused on progress in addressing the main macroeconomic challenges facing the country and remedial actions to meet missed performance...

This paper elaborates Bolivia’s fiscal transparency assessment report. The purpose of this IMF report is to facilitate countries in analyzing the fiscal situation through the appropriate basic, good, and advanced practices to identify which areas might benefit from reforms. These reforms...

Sovereign risk premia in several euro area countries have risen markedly since 2008, driving up credit spreads in the private sector as well. We propose a New Keynesian model of a two-region monetary union that accounts for this “sovereign risk channel.” The model is calibrated to the euro...