The report provides the third Review of the Republic of Croatia Under the Stand-By Arrangement (SBA). Policies under the SBA have sought to reduce Croatia’s savings-investment imbalance and stabilize the external debt-to-GDP ratio. Executive Directors agreed that the main success of the...

Despite good economic reforms, macroeconomic stability, and a major expansion of the hydrocarbon sector, Bolivia still achieved only modest gains in poverty reduction. Executive Directors stressed the importance of fiscal prudence, domestic taxation, and strengthening of public expenditure...

The staff report for the First Review Under the Stand-By Arrangement on the Republic of Croatia focuses on fiscal policy and monetary and financial sector policies. Financial soundness indicators show a continuation of the overall strengthening of the banking system, although foreign...

This 2005 Article IV Consultation highlights that the economic activity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) started to recover in 2002, after declining for 13 years. Inflation declined from 511 percent at end-2000 to 4 percent at end-2003. Fiscal developments were mixed in 2004, with...

This paper reviews the Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative of the Republic of Congo. Emerging from a conflict situation, and starting from a low base, Congo has made significant progress in implementing financial and structural reforms, but large challenges remain. The...

Moldova showed reasonable macroeconomic developments. Executive Directors welcomed this development, and stressed the need to implement prudent macroeconomic policies and accelerate structural reforms to sustain growth. They encouraged fiscal and tax reforms, and urged the need to tighten...

This paper examines Croatia’s 2004 Article IV Consultation and Request for Stand-By Arrangement (SBA). Croatia has established a record of solid growth and low inflation since the mid-1990s. Real GDP growth has averaged about 4.5 percent, with inflation in the low single digits. This...

A striking feature of sovereign lending is that many countries with moderate debt-to-income ratios systematically face higher spreads and more stringent borrowing constraints than others with far higher debt ratios. Earlier research has rationalized the phenomenon in terms of sovereign...

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,...

Croatia has made important strides in restoring robust economic growth and achieving price stability while continuing to strengthen its net international reserves position under the Stand-By Arrangement. Executive Directors welcomed this development, and stressed the need to improve fiscal...