How to entrench hard-won gains, increase resilience to shocks, and improve growth performance to reduce poverty? As Central America moves forward in regaining macroeconomic stability, these are the challenges. This study analyzes Central America’s real, fiscal, monetary, and financial...

Performance under the program has been satisfactory. Real GDP growth is higher than estimated owing to substantially higher than projected agricultural production. Burkina Faso continues to depend heavily on external assistance and on cotton exports, and is highly vulnerable to terms-of-trade...

In the aftermath of adverse supply shocks, and with further measures to promote investment, growth of production and exports is expected to recover. Efforts to remove barriers to investment and ensure a reliable provision of electricity are critical to private-sector-led growth. External...

The staff report for the Request for a Three-Year Arrangement Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility on Georgia focuses on economic developments and policies. The fiscal situation deteriorated sharply in 2003, especially because of a weakening in expenditure management and in tax...

Jamaica has achieved considerable success in reducing inflation, restructuring the financial system after the crisis in 1995–96, and further liberalizing the economy through tariff reduction and privatization. The government is urged to strengthen its efforts to put the economy on a less...

The Solomon Islands’s 2005 Article IV Consultation reports that the improvement in the economic performance registered after the arrival of the Australian-led intervention force in mid-2003 has continued. The projected deterioration in the external current account reflects...

This 2004 Article IV Consultation highlights that Vanuatu’s real GDP growth rebounded to 2.4 percent in 2003, and the recovery continued in 2004 with growth of an estimated 3 percent. The improvement was bolstered by a strong supply response to a recovery in export prices and the...

This 2005 Article IV Consultation highlights that real GDP growth in Grenada, on average, has been low over the last five years compared with growth of nearly 6 percent a year in the late-1990s. Inflation has remained low and stable within the framework of the currency board arrangement. The...

This paper discusses key findings of the Sixth Review Under the Extended Arrangement Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) for Albania. The macroeconomic performance of the Albanian economy has been good overall, with sustained growth and low inflation. Weak infrastructure and...

This paper reviews Albania’s 2004 Article IV Consultation, Fifth Review Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF), Request for Extension of the Arrangement, and Financing Assurances Review. The macroeconomic performance of the Albanian economy has been remarkable by both...