This Selected Issues paper reviews Canada’s business tax system, looking at the incentive effects of the country’s business tax regime and their implications for output and employment. It presents estimates of marginal effective tax rates on corporate-source income in Canada and...

The staff report for the 2005 Article IV Consultation on Portugal highlights economic developments and outlook. Private consumption has proven resilient, reflecting low interest rates and lengthening tenors on bank lending, while investment and export growth remained weak. Executive Directors...

Italy has made impressive strides in achieving deep-rooted macroeconomic stability. But growth has disappointed over the past decade. The government has laid out a bold agenda to reinvigorate growth. Specifics of an expenditure and tax reform agenda should be laid out early. A key to achieving...

This Selected Issues paper describes economic developments in Guyana during the 1990s. Real GDP recovered with an average growth rate of 7½ percent a year during 1991–94 as economic activity responded to a shift in economic policies. Renewed confidence led to increased...

This paper examines Mozambique’s First Review Under the Three-Year Arrangement Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF). Mozambique’s performance in 2004 relative to the main macroeconomic objectives of the PRGF-supported program was satisfactory. The fiscal...

In recent years, the IMF has released a growing number of reports and other documents covering economic and financial developments and trends in member countries. Each report, prepared by a staff team after discussions with government officials, is published at the option of the member country.

Burkina Faso’s Second and Third Reviews Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility and Requests for Waiver of Nonobservance of Performance Criteria are examined. Fiscal policy for 2005 aims at preserving social sector outlays while ensuring that the external debt burden falls....

This Selected Issues paper describes economic developments in Eritrea during the 1990s. The paper highlights that since the early 1990s, the Eritrean economy has recovered considerably, thanks to the rebuilding of the infrastructure and the improved availability of essential imports following...

Cote d'lvoire adopted an IMF-supported program in early 1994 following the devaluation of the CFA franc. Under this program, progress was made in reducing financial imbalances, controlling inflation, liberalizing the economy, and establishing a sound basis for sustainable economic growth...

This paper focuses on Niger’s Request for a Three-Year Arrangement Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF). Authorities’ reform program for 2005–07 focuses on fiscal consolidation; public and financial sector reforms; and development of social and priority...