Economic crises are an agonizing feature of modern economies leading to dramatic falls in the real GDP per capita. A crisis can exhaust country's resources forcing it to either apply for an IMF program or to default on its foreign or domestic liabilities. Do these drastic measures aid countries...

This paper presents 2019 Article IV Consultation with the Republic of Moldova and its Sixth Reviews Under the Extended Credit Facility and Extended Fund Facility Arrangements. Moldova's economic growth remained solid in the first three quarters of 2019, with output expanding nearly 5 percent,...

This 2019 Article IV Consultation focuses on Botswana near- and medium-term challenges and policy priorities and was prepared before COVID-19 became a global pandemic and resulted in unprecedented strains in global trade, commodity, and financial markets. Gross domestic product growth is...

This 2020 Article IV Consultation with Italy reflects discussions with the Italian authorities in January 2020 and is based on the information available as of January 28, 2020. It focuses on Italy's medium-term challenges and policy priorities and was prepared prior to the outbreak of COVID-19...

This paper presents an assessment of Somalia's eligibility for assistance under the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. The macroeconomic framework reflects the policy framework underlying the proposed three-year Fund-supported program. The debt relief analysis (DRA)...

Financial assistance provided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is supposed to unlock other financing, acting as a catalyst for private capital flows. The empirical evidence of the presence of such a catalytic effect has, however, been mixed. This paper shows that a possible explanation...

The current FCL arrangement for Colombia was approved in May 2020. Colombia was cited for its very strong policy frameworks-anchored by a flexible exchange rate, a credible inflation-targeting regime, effective financial sector supervision and regulation, and a structural fiscal rule-and a track...

The economic outlook has substantially deteriorated since the Second Review, driven by the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on global economic activity and oil prices. The adverse impact of the shock on the Angolan economy, which is highly dependent on oil (95 percent of exports,...

A further deterioration of the global environment and a deepening of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic have worsened the macroeconomic outlook significantly, with growth now projected to be negative in 2020. As a result, urgent balance of payments needs arising from the pandemic are now...