This Selected Issues paper analyzes Belgium's fiscal stance using a structural stochastic model. This note uses a theoretical model that explicitly accounts for the trade-offs between the short-term cost of fiscal tightening and the long-term gains associated with higher fiscal buffers. This...

This book examines how Japan should cope with fiscal challenges, as demands on the budget from an ageing society have necessitated the reigning in of public debt and the revamp of the pension and healthcare systems. It combines insights from academic research with the views of policymakers to...

Recent growth has been healthy, and the unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest level since 2011. However, some underlying weaknesses remain. The rate in which new jobs are created and the 'churn' of workers relocating across jobs has not picked up with the recovery, labor productivity growth...

This Selected Issues paper summarizes Nordea's operations and business model; the macroeconomic and prudential implications of the move; and policy responses taken so far. The IMF staff's assessment is that banking supervision in the euro area has improved significantly following the creation of...