Niger’s Fourth Review Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility and Request for Waiver and Modification of Performance Criteria are examined. Economic growth in 2006 has been satisfactory at 4.8 percent, owing to a good harvest for the second year in a row, and strong mining,...

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...

This 2006 Article IV Consultation highlights that despite some progress in macroeconomic stabilization and reform under IMF-supported programs during the 1990s, Chad’s indicators on business climate, governance, and socioeconomic conditions still remain among the lowest in the world. In...

The 2006 Article IV Consultation with Peru and request for a Stand-By Arrangement highlights that the Peruvian economy has been reaping benefits of sound policies in a favorable external environment. The new government remains committed to sustaining fiscal consolidation to entrench...

This report on the Observance of Standards and Codes on Fiscal Transparency of Nepal discusses fiscal transparency practices. Broad objectives of fiscal policy have been included in the budget speech, but the sustainability of fiscal policy over the longer term is not examined. Public reporting...

The staff report for the Second Review under the Three-Year Arrangement under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) highlights Benin’s macroeconomic framework. All quantitative performance criteria (PC) and benchmarks for the period through end-December 2006 were observed, but...

The Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) on the Republic of Madagascar explain the Madagascar Action Plan (MAP) to accelerate and better coordinate the development process. The National Leadership Institute of Madagascar (NLIM) was created in 2006 to provide cutting-edge training to build...

This paper discusses key findings of the 2006 Article IV Consultation and Third Review Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility for Niger. Macroeconomic performance and policy implementation have been broadly satisfactory. After a drought in 2004, a bumper harvest in late 2005 and good...