This Summary Report describes Afghanistan's Interim National Development Strategy (I-ANDS). It assesses the overall policy objectives, analyzes the context of and constraints to the achievement of those objectives, summarizes the government's key strategies and programs, and also reviews...

The report describes the policy framework for the Interim Afghanistan National Development Strategy (I-ANDS) and the vision for Afghanistan's developments. It reviews the progress under I-ANDS, analyzes the macroeconomic environment, characteristics of poverty and the policy goals, assesses the...

The staff report for the 2005 Article IV Consultation on the People’s Republic of China highlights economic developments and fiscal policy. The continued robust growth owes much to the favorable external environment, with judicious macroeconomic policies, continued structural reforms, and...

The United Kingdom’s 2005 Article IV Consultation reports that macroeconomic performance has been strong and steady, owing in part to confidence-enhancing policy frameworks and generally sound implementation. The financial system is generally healthy, although a substantial increase in...

This 2005 Article IV Consultation highlights that Belgium’s growth has picked up following weakness in early 2005, mainly reflecting a negative contribution from the external sector and weak household consumption owing to high energy prices. The authorities and the IMF staff project GDP...

Sweden represents an archetypal welfare state economy, with extensive government safety nets. Some scholars have attributed a decline in its per capita income ranking since 1970 to "eurosclerosis" or sluggish growth caused by distortionary policies. This paper argues rather, that the permanent...

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...

There is world-wide convergence in life expectancy, despite little convergence in GDP per capita. If one values longer life much more than material happiness, the world living standards may this have already converged substantially. This paper introduces the concept of the dynastic general...

During the transition process, many existing social sector institutions and policies were significantly eroded and their underlying character changed. As a result, they often do not redistribute to the poorest, nor generally serve the role of facilitating economic change. Social sector reforms...