The macroeconomic stability of Sri Lanka is analyzed. Reflecting high domestic inflation relative to trading partners, the real effective exchange rate appreciated by 2 percent. Infrastructure development is a central element of the government’s medium-term development strategy. Further...

Sri Lanka’s 2005 Article IV Consultation reports that the fiscal deficit exceeded budget targets, and with a significant amount of government financing provided by the central bank, the growth in monetary aggregates increased, contributing to higher inflation. The near-term economic outlook is...

Since the last Article IV Consultation, the Sri Lankan economy has advanced on several fronts. However, the economic effects of the two-decade long civil conflict are yet to be overcome, and many challenges remain. Recently, heightened political uncertainty has constrained the government’s...

The Global Monitoring Report 2014/2015: Ending Poverty and Sharing Prosperity was written jointly by the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund, with substantive inputs from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. This year's report details, for the first...

This paper highlights the state of Public Finances Cross-Country Fiscal Monitor. This edition of the Cross-Country Fiscal Monitor provides an update of global fiscal developments and policy strategies, based on projections from the November 2009 WEO. These projections reflect the assessment of...

Global Monitoring Report 2008, the fifth in an annual series, is essential reading for those who wish to follow the global development agenda and debate in 2008. The year marks the midpoint toward the 2015 deadline for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It is also an important...

Traditional fiscal indicators focused on measures of current deficits and debt miss the potentially important implications of current policies for future public finances. This could be problematic, including in the case of Europe, where population aging is expected to pose additional fiscal...

A Development Emergency: the title of this year's Global Monitoring Report, the sixth in an annual series, could not be more apt. The global economic crisis, the most severe since the Great Depression, is rapidly turning into a human and development crisis. No region is immune. The poor...