Economic activity strengthened in Côte d’Ivoire in 2009, but it is expected to decelerate. Financial performance under the Extended Credit Facility-supported program was broadly satisfactory. Good progress was made in restructuring external debt. The program is in line with the agreed reform...

This paper discusses key findings of the Fifth Review Under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) for Grenada. Four of the six quantitative performance criteria for end-November 2009 were met. The primary balance, excluding the grants target, was missed by 3.3 percent of GDP owing to...

This 2009 Article IV Consultation highlights that Fiji’s growth has been sluggish in recent years because of delays in economic reforms, worsening terms of trade, and political developments that have strained Fiji’s international relations and hurt business confidence. Fiji’s economy is...

Tonga’s high debt and the apparent ineffectiveness of the monetary transmission mechanism constrain the authorities’ ability to support growth. In the near term, the strength of the global recovery is by no means assured, and there are multiple risks that could weaken prospects in both...

The Article IV Consultation with the Kingdom of Swaziland discusses efforts to broaden the tax base and improve tax administration, in particular through the introduction of a value-added tax and the establishment of a Revenue Authority. The depreciation of the nominal exchange rate along with...

The macroeconomic objectives of the 1999 Staff-Monitored Program (SMP) have been broadly achieved in Sudan. The macroeconomic situation at the end of 1999 was modestly more expansionary than programmed. Budget expenditure was maintained below the program level throughout the year and a surge in...

The Swazi economy has continued to register sluggish economic activity even as rising Southern African Customs Union revenue contributed to a large fiscal surplus and accumulation of international reserves. The unchecked growth of insufficiently regulated saving and credit cooperatives poses...

The paper investigates the impact of the global financial crisis on public-private partnerships (PPPs) and the circumstances under which providing support to new and existing projects is justified. Based on country evidence, cost of and access to finance are found to be the main channels of...

In the literature on exports and investment, most productive firms are seen to invest abroad. In the Helpman et al. (2004) model, costs of transportation play a critical role in the decision about whether to serve foreign customers by exporting, or by producing abroad. We consider the case of...

We document external investment positions among European Union countries at the start of the financial crisis through the creation of a new database comprising bilateral external financial asset and liabilities, excluding reserve assets and derivatives. While there are some gaps in the data, the...