Israel was mildly affected by the global recession: following a slowdown in 2009, output is projected to grow by some 4 percent in 2010, led by consumption and exports. Robust fundamentals—including sustained pre-crisis fiscal consolidation—and a swift monetary and fiscal policy...

This Selected Issues paper examines implications for long-term bond yields in case of Japan. The analysis finds that so far, upward pressure on interest rates from high public debt has been offset by domestic factors, including a stable investor base with a preference for safe assets. As these...

Sweden’s 2005 Article IV Consultation reports that strong productivity gains, wage moderation, and falling nonenergy import prices contributed to reducing inflation, and creating room for aggressive monetary easing. Export growth has been led by a strong recovery in the telecommunications...

This 2005 Article IV Consultation highlights that Finland’s economic performance in recent years continued to be favorable. Growth has outpaced that in the euro area and is expected to pick up to more than 3 percent in 2006. The external current account has remained comfortably in...

The principal policy task in Hungary is to place public finances on a sound footing. For monetary policy, the challenge is to identify one-off inflationary influences, communicate these to the public and financial markets, and deal with second-round effects. From a risk-management perspective, a...

This Selected Issues paper and Statistical Appendix on Botswana underlies that diamond reserves are not adequate to generate enough permanent revenue to support the current level of expenditure. Despite strong overall growth, in Botswana, a pattern of dependence on diamond revenue and high...

This Selected Issues paper for Hungary highlights the monetary policy framework in Hungary and the models used by the central bank (MNB). The MNB’s Quarterly Projection Model combines neo-Keynesian features in the short term with neoclassical features in the long term. It is a two-sector...

The Israeli economy is performing exceptionally well, but still high public indebtedness calls for the continuation of strong economic policies. Monetary policy has successfully stabilized inflation expectations, but policy and communication challenges remain. The recent positive fiscal...

This Selected Issues paper analyzes medium-term fiscal sustainability in Trinidad and Tobago. The paper focuses on the challenge of distributing the nonrenewable resource wealth across generations. Its recommendations are geared toward the goal of intergenerational distribution and therefore...

This 2007 Article IV Consultation highlights that Malta’s economic recovery is gaining traction, owing in large part to cyclical strength and some structural change. A public investment boom, financed largely by grants from the European Union, reignited growth in 2005. A modest recovery...