This Selected Issues paper reviews recent developments in growth and employment in Bulgaria and highlights key constraints to growth suggested by cross-country competitiveness studies. Bulgaria’s GDP has grown substantially since economic and financial stabilization in 1997. The global...

This paper presents the Joint Staff Advisory Note on Senegal’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper Annual Progress Report. Senegal’s poverty reduction strategy is built on four pillars that include wealth creation, capacity building, the provision of basic social services, and...

In recent years, the IMF has released a growing number of reports and other documents covering economic and financial developments and trends in member countries. Each report, prepared by a staff team after discussions with government officials, is published at the option of the member country.

This Status Report summarizes the main steps that have been undertaken since the last progress report to finalize the National Poverty Eradication Program (NPEP) of Lao People's Democratic Republic. The NPEP is a comprehensive framework for growth and development, with a focus of an in-depth...

This Selected Issues paper on Panama explores the current situation and trends of the Caja del Seguro Social (CSS) in Panama. The autonomy is embedded in its Organic Law, which also provides the agency with the right to have separate funds from the central government. The slowdown in economic...

In recent years, the IMF has released a growing number of reports and other documents covering economic and financial developments and trends in member countries. Each report, prepared by a staff team after discussions with government officials, is published at the option of the member country.

This paper presents the Joint Staff Assessment of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) Annual Progress Report for Mali. Mali’s first annual PRSP Progress Report presents a frank assessment of implementation of the PRSP. The Progress Report highlights Mali’s macroeconomic and...

This Selected Issues paper attempts to analyze the end-point problem and improve the quality of potential GDP estimates for Germany. It projects that Germany’s potential GDP growth will slow over the coming decade, mainly because of declining labor input. The paper focuses on a long-term...

This Selected Issues paper of the United Kingdom analyzes the official projections of public pension spending and risks, as well as the strategy to increase private pension provision. It provides a comparison of stylized facts regarding business cycle developments in the three economies, and an...

This paper examines Lesotho’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) Progress Report for the period between January and December 2002. The achievements demonstrate that the government of Lesotho has reaffirmed its commitment to a highly participatory approach and process of preparing a...