The proposed Staff-Monitored Program (SMP) in Tajikistan includes a balanced budget objective with a view to securing the inflation goal. While public financial management has improved, there is an agreement that monitoring and corporate governance of state-owned enterprises should be enhanced....

This Selected Issues and Analytical Note on Finland discusses the potential spillovers to Finland from various shocks associated with cross-country interlinkages. The note provides an overview of the trade and financial linkages, assesses the impact of global fiscal consolidation on Finland via...

This paper discusses key findings of the Fourth Review Under the Stand-By Arrangement for Bulgaria. Performance in 2006 was broadly satisfactory, although structural reform implementation was weaker than expected. Notably, the government postponed until mid-2007 the launching of the electronic...

Statistics of Kuwait’s economics are presented in this paper. Some of the areas covered include gross domestic product prices, gross domestic expenditure; production, disposal, and prices of oil, and LPG consumer. Data on population and employment, summary of government finance, revenue,...

This Selected Issues paper on the Republic of Kosovo’s 2013 Article IV Consultation highlights growth and Kosovo’s external environment. In the wake of the global financial crisis, Kosovo’s economic growth slowed but remained positive, while most other Western Balkans...

This paper discusses implementation of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) in Mauritania. The second phase of the PRSP is accompanied by a Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) for 2006–10. MTEF determines the overall cost of the action plan in terms of both current and capital...

This paper discusses the Financial System Stability Assessment for South Africa, and reviews the Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes on Securities Regulation. The assessment reveals that South Africa’s sophisticated financial system is fundamentally sound and has so far...

The Macedonian labor market exhibits a high unemployment rate, yet does not demonstrate obvious and large enough constraints on the demand or supply side. Considerable achievements can be made by maintaining macroeconomic stability, attracting FDI, and closing the educational gaps. The second...

This paper reports on progress made on Nicaragua’s National Human Development Plan as of 2010. The operational goal for Nicaragua’s National Human Development Plan is economic growth with increased employment and reduced inequality and poverty. The results for 2007–10...

Uruguay’s inflation and inflation expectations exceed the inflation target, and the gap has been widening in recent years. To help bring it to the mid-point of the target, Banco Central del Uruguay (BCU) needs to maintain a tightening bias in addition to strengthening its communication....