This 2003 Article IV Consultation highlights that after a prolonged recession through the second half of the 1990s, the Netherlands Antilles economy has recently shown some important resilience. With the exchange rate pegged to the U.S. dollar, the Netherlands Antilles has enjoyed low inflation....

This 2002 Article IV Consultation highlights that the real GDP of the United Kingdom increased at an average rate of some 2.8 percent, and the unemployment rate halved to below 5 percent by April 2001. Inflation, which has been low since the mid-1990s, was—on a harmonized...

This 2002 Article IV Consultation highlights that Paraguay’s economic performance in recent years has been characterized by slow economic growth and increasing unemployment and poverty rates. This stagnation reflects structural impediments to growth, exacerbated by external and domestic...

This 2002 Article IV Consultation highlights that eight consecutive years of growth in Barbados ended in 2001 as real GDP contracted by 2¾ percent, owing mainly to the adverse impact on tourism of the global economic slowdown and the September 11 terrorist attacks, as well as continuing...

This 2003 Article IV Consultation highlights that the Republic of Latvia has enjoyed continued strong economic performance since the last Article IV Consultation in January 2002. Real GDP growth was 7.9 percent in 2001 and 6.1 percent in 2002; growth has been led by investment and, more recently,...

This 2003 Article IV Consultation states that Belarus made noticeable progress in some areas of economic reform over the past several years, but overall macroeconomic performance in 2002 was mixed. Inflation in 2002 was the lowest since Belarus became independent, yet it remains the highest in...

This paper examines alternative ways to prevent losses from bank insolvencies. It is widely viewed that transparency in reporting bank balance sheets is a key element in reducing such losses. It is, however, unclear just how such transparency would be achieved. Current approaches to avoiding...

This paper explores the relationship between external debt and poverty. A number of observers have argued that high external indebtedness is a major cause of poverty. Using the first-differenced general method of moments (GMM) estimator, the paper models the impact of external debt on poverty,...

This paper seeks to draw lessons from the IMF’s experience in handling financial crises around the globe over the past ten years that are relevant to the challenges faced by countries in Latin America, especially in the wake of the recent crisis in Argentina. Experience suggests that...

This paper examines the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s 2003 Article IV Consultation, First Review Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF), and Request for Waiver of Performance Criteria. Through September 2002, overall performance under the PRGF-supported program was...