The Israeli economy is performing exceptionally well, but still high public indebtedness calls for the continuation of strong economic policies. Monetary policy has successfully stabilized inflation expectations, but policy and communication challenges remain. The recent positive fiscal...

This report provides a reassessment of fiscal transparency practices in Mozambique. The reassessment is conducted against the results of Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC) on fiscal transparency, which identified serious transparency shortcomings and updates of the ROSC,...

This paper assesses the relative strengths and weaknesses of fiscal institutions in ten Southeastern European countries, using recent benchmarking methodologies developed by FAD. The assessment evaluates each country’s understanding of the scale of the fiscal adjustment challenge, its...

Though many aspects of Russia's fiscal policy framework are close to best practice on paper, actual practice in recent years has been moving away from best practice. In particular, the continued focus on the overall rather than the nonoil balance, and the regular use of supplemental budgets to...

This selected issues paper on Iceland reports that since mid-2009, Iceland has undergone a heavily frontloaded fiscal consolidation program to bring government finances to a sustainable level. To maintain the adjustment gains achieved during the last 2½ years, the authorities have started...

The 2012 Article IV Consultation discusses the economic outlook for Kuwait for 2012, which is broadly positive. Economic recovery is expected to strengthen, led by high government expenditure—particularly wages and capital expenditure. High fiscal and external surpluses are expected to...

This 2012 Article IV Consultation highlights that the economic recovery in the United Arab Emirates is continuing despite the uncertain global economic environment. The banking sector has remained well capitalized and profitable, despite a continued rise in nonperforming loans and higher...

The paper is an account of Finland’s unexpected upcoming deceleration in the economy at the end of 2011 and later. The deleveraging of the financial sector and the debt crisis made the nation fear an inevitable recession. To sustain this vulnerable situation, due attention was given to...