This Selected Issues paper on Euro Area Policies underlies global rebalancing of accounts. From a growth-accounting perspective, slower growth in the capital-labor ratio seems to be the main driver behind the deceleration in labor productivity. The increase in bilateral trade was accompanied by...

This paper examines Argentina’s Second Review Under the Stand-By Arrangement and Requests for Modification and Waiver of Performance Criteria. The economy is recovering rapidly, while inflation remains subdued. Strengthening consumer and business confidence and cautious monetary and fiscal...

The First Review Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility, and Requests for Waiver of Performance Criteria for Senegal are discussed. Economic activity in the first half of 2003 has been weaker than envisaged under the program. The impact of softer domestic demand, reflecting mainly the...

Chad has succeeded in recent years in broadly maintaining macroeconomic stability and a high growth rate of economic activity. There has been a significant effort to formulate the detailed modalities for the use of oil revenues so as to ensure that oil revenues are used transparently and...

This 2002 Article IV Consultation highlights that Paraguay’s economic performance in recent years has been characterized by slow economic growth and increasing unemployment and poverty rates. This stagnation reflects structural impediments to growth, exacerbated by external and domestic...

Globalization requires enhanced information flows among financial regulators. Standard-setting bodies for financial sector regulation provide extensive guidance, but financial sector assessments have often found that problems in cooperation and information exchange continue to constrain...

This paper reviews the design of and experience with IMF-supported programs formulated in response to capital account crises in the 1990s, focusing on the experiences of eight countries: Turkey (1994), Mexico (1995), Argentina (1995), Thailand (1997), Indonesia (1997), Korea (1997), the...

The key findings of Australia’s BASEL II implementation assessment are presented. The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) allocated sufficient resources, including highly skilled staff, prior to the Basel II start date, and the outcome has been a robust and high-quality...

This report provides a summary of the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) measures in place in the Principality of Monaco. The Principality has a satisfactory legal framework to combat money laundering and terrorist financing though, in general, the legal...

Liechtenstein has a GDP of US$5.2 billion, of which 40 percent comes from industry and 30 percent from financial services. Currently, 15 banks operate in Liechtenstein (one additional bank is in the process of being wound down without loss to the depositors). The market is highly concentrated...