This Selected Issues paper on Azerbaijan Republic reports that the government has made substantial progress in dealing with energy-related subsidies. The domestic market for oil products has been tightly regulated by the government since Azerbaijan gained independence. Azerbaijan is largely...

This paper examines the impact of the 2003-05 oil price increase on the balance of payments positions and IMF financing needs of low-income country oil importers. It finds that stronger exports reflecting favorable global conditions, a compression of oil import volumes due to the pass-through of...

This paper attempts to offer specific inputs to the debate on local content promotion in the oil industry, using the specific case of São Tomé and Príncipe as point of reference. Our approach emphasizes inter-sectoral linkages and institutional pre-conditions for local content promotion....

While global rebalancing will mainly involve structural realignment among major advanced and emerging market economies, it could have significant impact on low-income countries (LICs). Simulations using a global general equilibrium model show that a more balanced global economy would tend to...

This paper examines the economic and financial linkages between Morocco and Tunisia and their European partners. Using structural vector autoregressions, we find that growth shocks in European partner countries generate significant responses on growth in Morocco and Tunisia. For Tunisia, exports...

Uruguay's performance under the Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) has been favorable, and commendable progress has been achieved in containing the crisis and stabilizing the economy. Executive Directors welcomed this development, and stressed the need to implement policies in the fiscal, banking, and...

South Africa’s 2005 Article IV Consultation reports that the short-term outlook is broadly favorable, with the main risks arising from a possible worsening of the external environment. The authorities plan to maintain a flexible exchange rate, and to intervene in the foreign exchange...

This 2005 Article IV Consultation highlights that since the last Article IV Consultation, Bangladesh’s economy has continued to expand, supported by a stable macroeconomic environment and progress in implementing structural reforms, broadly in line with the recommendations made by the IMF...

The government of Rwanda has recognized that economic development in most areas would have to be the responsibility of the private sector (particularly since military and civil service employment would be reduced), but that the public sector could still have a role in promoting economic equality...