This paper presents an overview of recent U.S. fiscal developments and discusses possible implications of the sharp turn around in the government’s fiscal position. Against this back ground, it also reviews key policy challenges that will need to be addressed to cope with the mounting...

This paper reviews the 2004 Semiannual IMF Staff Report Under Intensified Surveillance for Nigeria. Overall economic performance in the first half of 2004 was commendable. The implementation of sound macroeconomic policies, underpinned by a conservative reference oil price and savings of the oil...

There has been widespread adoption of new laws to support new public management. In many countries that have implemented comprehensive and deep reforms, new or amended laws have fundamentally changed the role of the state and the budget processes supporting it. Paradoxically, far-reaching...

We analyze the relationship between international trade and the quality of economic institutions, such as contract enforcement, rule of law, and property rights. In our model, firms differ in their preferences for institutional quality, which is determined endogenously in a political economy...

This paper assesses whether the scaling up of aid and the resulting increase in government spending that is needed to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) would be hampered by wage bill ceilings that are often part of government programs supported by the IMF's Poverty Reduction and...

This 2005 Article IV Consultation for Ireland reports that economic performance has been impressive, owing in significant measure to sound policies. In line with the global cycle, growth picked up strongly in 2004. Rapid employment growth has been supported by immigration, so the unemployment...

This 2005 Article IV Consultation highlights that following three years of sluggish economic growth, activity in Guatemala improved somewhat in 2004, with real GDP rising by 2¾ percent, but consumer price inflation drifted upward to more than 9 percent. Monetary policy is being geared to...

This 2004 Article IV Consultation highlights that a cyclical recovery is under way for Italy, with real GDP having risen by 1.2 percent in the first three quarters of 2004 relative to the same period of the previous year, thanks to the favorable external environment and a recovery of investment....

This paper examines Ukraine’s Request for a Stand-By Arrangement (SBA). The authorities have requested a 12-month SBA, which they intend to treat as precautionary. Their economic program for 2004 aims to sustain recent stabilization gains and advance some important structural reforms. Key...

This Selected Issues paper assesses the long-term fiscal position of Canada. Simulations based on current tax and spending policies suggest that the fiscal position will remain favorable until well into the middle of the century, and relatively modest adjustments would be required to make these...