This 2004 Article IV Consultation highlights that the Czech Republic’s GDP expanded by 3.1 percent in 2003 and the first quarter of 2004, mainly supported by household consumption. Investment was also strong in 2003—driven by spending on public infrastructure—and swelled in...

This 2005 Article IV Consultation highlights that Hungary’s economy achieved valuable gains in 2004 with GDP growth recovering to 4 percent. The growth was supported by strong investment and robust export growth. Consumption slowed in response to rising unemployment, a moderation in wage...

This Selected Issues paper analyzes current developments and outlook for inflation in the Czech Republic. Inflation in the Czech Republic has fallen substantially since peaking in the double digits in 1998. The crisis-led depreciation of the koruna in mid-1997 pushed year-over-year inflation to...

This paper focuses on Ukraine’s 2005 Article IV Consultation and Ex Post Assessment of Longer-Term Program Engagement. After four years of strong activity, annual growth has slowed sharply, from a peak of about 12 percent in 2004 to 3 percent for January–September 2005. Fiscal...

This 2003 Article IV Consultation highlights that economic growth in the Republic of Slovenia slowed during 2001–02 to about 3 percent, owing to a weak external environment and subdued domestic demand. Export growth slowed as demand from the European Union weakened, but the impact was...

This 2004 Article IV Consultation highlights that United Kingdom’s real GDP growth is estimated at about 3 percent in 2004 and is expected to stay stable at about 2½ percent in 2005–06, in line with potential growth. Domestic demand remains the key driver of growth, underpinned...

This Selected Issues paper and Statistical Appendix paper examines the issue of dollarization in Albania against the background of rapidly evolving banking, policy and prudential systems, and of growing importance of monetary policy as a tool for demand management. The period covered is...

This paper reviews economic developments in Slovenia during 1990–96. Slovenia experienced its first positive real GDP growth in 1993. Real GDP grew by 1.3 percent. This modest recovery began under the impetus of buoyant domestic demand, which grew by 8¼ percent; real foreign demand...

The Selected Issues paper examines the dynamics of the inflation process in the United Kingdom, particularly the influence of external shocks. The paper provides a brief summary of existing empirical work. It presents the expectations-augmented Phillips curve model used in the analysis. The...

This 2002 Article IV Consultation for Norway highlights that the mainland GDP growth edged up to an estimated 1.4 percent in 2002, from 12 percent in 2001, driven by strong consumption growth. Mainland investment and traditional exports slackened, as a result of weak external demand, high real...