This Selected Issues paper examines the role of information and communication technology (ICT) in the recent acceleration of labor productivity growth in the United States. The analysis reveals that the increase of total factor productivity (TFP) growth is a broad phenomenon that encompasses...

This paper explores the factors that have led to a Canada-U.S. productivity gap using a sectoral growth accounting approach. Both fiscal and monetary policies have had significant effects on the saving rate. The Canadian dollar’s appreciation was followed by a protracted period of...

This paper examines Sierra Leone’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) Preparation Status Report. The government of Sierra Leone submitted its last PRSP preparation status report to the Executive Boards of the IMF and the World Bank in June 2003. However, the projected completion date...

This paper examines Congo’s Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (I-PRSP). Congo’s I-PRSP explains the features and causes of poverty in Congo. It provides a short- and medium-term vision of development as well as a strategic orientation for a return to sustainable and equitable growth....

The Gambian authorities produced two Annual Progress Reports (APRs) covering implementation of the first Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) during 2002–03 and 2004, respectively. This addendum is organized around four of the main themes of the first PRSP: (i) macroeconomic stability...

Liberia’s Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy (iPRS) sets out the emerging process and framework for recovery and reconstruction in the context of post-conflict Liberia. The iPRSP sets out the national socio-economic context, the preparatory process, dimensions of the emerging policy,...

This paper focuses on Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy Paper–II (GPRSP II) for Cape Verde. The GPRSP II is formulated with reference to five major strategic aims concerning good governance, human capital, competitiveness, infrastructure building, and social cohesion. In identifying...

This document presents a profile of poverty, and indicates briefly the stakes and challenges involved, using available quantitative and qualitative data to specify the targeted objectives to be reached. Actions to be taken are then positioned within a macroeconomic framework for which short- and...

This 2010 Progress Report on the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) focuses on the poverty condition in Mali. The incidence of poverty in Mali fell from 55.6 percent in 2001 to 43.6 percent in 2010. Over the past decade, poverty has fallen in rural areas, in Bamako, and in other urban...

This paper discusses Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) 2007–11 for The Gambia. PRSP II builds on the long-term development Vision 2020 of The Gambia. It also takes cognizance of the fact that implementation of PRSP I suffered from revenue shortfalls as the IMF suspended its program...