Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi has consolidated his authoritarian regime in recent years. This has been accompanied by a significant increase in Cairo’s foreign debt, which more than tripled between June 2013 and March 2022. The country’s debt policy was directly linked to the...

Mozambique's 3 rd civil war is now in its 5th year in Cabo Delgado province, in the northeast of the country. More than 4300 people have died and nearly one million people have been displaced, more than one third the population of the province. One of the largest investment projects in Africa...

Climate change poses three specific but interrelated policy challenges: climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation (which includes building up resilience) and managing transition risks. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a multilateral institution with global reach and...

Most of the literature on the interventions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Portugal points to the June 1978 Stand-by arrangement (SBA) between the Portuguese authorities and the IMF as being the first such intervention (Nunes, 2010, Lopes, 1982 and 1996, Pinto, 1983, Schmitt, 1981,...

Lebanon has been passing through considerable difficulties as a result of compounded economic and financial degradation. Therefore, a comprehensive adjustment program is necessary. The aim of this research is to describe different reform plans applied by countries that have undergone economic...

Madagascar continues to be severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. After a contraction of GDP estimated at 7.1 percent in 2020, the economic recovery has been sluggish, partly reflecting a delayed reopening of the economy. Postponement of some external budget support, following delays in...

The authorities have reacted to the COVID-19 crisis in an appropriate manner, including through increased spending on health and a rollout of the vaccination program. Nevertheless, the deterioration of socio-economic indicators during the pandemic could create scars that would significantly...

Cameroon, the largest economy in the Central African Economic and Monetary Union (CEMAC), continues to face the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic. In July 2021, the IMF's Executive Board approved three-year arrangements under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and the Extended Fund Facility...

While geopolitical tensions with Russia had already curtailed Ukraine's access to markets, the escalation to an invasion of Ukraine by Russia and full-blown war on February 24 has dramatically altered Ukraine's outlook. A deep recession and large reconstruction costs are to be expected, on the...

Papua New Guinea (PNG) is a fragile state, vulnerable to recurrent shocks. A third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is straining the healthcare system. Widespread vaccine hesitancy has contributed to very low uptake of the vaccines with about only 2 percent of the population fully vaccinated. Real...

A new wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is creating headwinds for the nascent economic recovery from the deep recession spurred by the pandemic's onset and related oil price shocks. Over the medium term, reforms supporting improved governance, economic diversification, and resilience will help...

Economic activity has rebounded strongly on the back of waning COVID-19 infections and expansionary fiscal and monetary policies. However, strong import growth-fueled by the macroeconomic policy mix, higher international commodity prices, and credit growth-have led to a marked deterioration of...

After two years of protracted political turmoil and delays in reforms, the authorities put in place in 2021 an ambitious fiscal consolidation program to ensure debt sustainability while creating fiscal space to address vast developmental needs. In late July, Fund Management approved a 9-month...

South Africa's subpar economic performance over the last decade has weakened its macroeconomic fundamentals and social indicators. In response to formidable COVID-19-related challenges, government expenditure surged, and, amid declining revenue, the budget deficit widened significantly. The...

After a third wave over the summer, COVID-19 cases are declining but vaccination has stalled. Economic activity has improved on the back of strengthened external demand, allowing for a stronger-than-envisaged buildup in international reserves. Inflation and the exchange rate have stabilized....

The economy is recovering from a historic downturn thanks to policy support, rebounding oil prices and international financial assistance. Benefiting from the authorities' pro-active approach, COVID-19 infection rates and fatalities have been contained. With higher oil prices and the country...

Comoros is a small, fragile island state (population: 850,000) with persistently low and shock-prone growth and a high risk of external debt distress. Officially recorded COVID-related casualties have remained low (4,569 infections and 151 deaths so far). Growth projections remain at 1.6 percent...

President Touadera was reelected for a second term, despite attempts by armed groups to prevent the general and presidential elections from being held. While the security situation has improved since these groups' attacks on Bangui were repulsed in January, the prolonged closure of the trade...

The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted a decade of high growth and development progress in Senegal. While a recession was avoided in 2020, the pandemic caused severe hardship and most households experienced income and job losses. A dynamic recovery is underway since mid-2020, supported by...

The National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia (NBRNM) is implementing advanced transparency practices. The long-standing commitment to transparency noted by a number of stakeholders and forcefully re-affirmed in the recent period is well anchored in the law, and it has been designated by...

The COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted Nepal's economy. Tourist arrivals collapsed, domestic activity plummeted, and remittances have been volatile. As a result, balance of payments and fiscal financing gaps emerged. After growth was lower than expected in 2019/20, a gradual resumption in...

A strong economic recovery is underway in France, bolstered by progress on vaccination, strong fiscal support and solid private sector led investment. Employment has recovered to above pre-crisis levels and unemployment is virtually stable. Inflation is increasing, mainly driven by a rise in...

Strong and timely containment measures have successfully prevented a domestic COVID-19 outbreak but have also weighed on economic activity and aggravated pre-existing socio-economic tensions. Following a contraction in 2020, growth is projected to recover gradually starting this year and to gain...

Policies since 2018 have stabilized the economy in a very difficult environment. Yet many challenges remain for sustainable development, especially high debt and oil dependency. The authorities remain committed to continued reforms

The expected macroeconomic recovery has materialized. Seychelles remains a leader in vaccine coverage at home, and the widespread availability of vaccines in Seychelles' key tourist markets, particularly Europe, is contributing to a strong rebound in tourism. The economic outlook, while...

After contracting more than 5 percent in 2020, Kosovo's economy is projected to have recovered by 7.5 percent in 2021, thanks to mobility normalization, extraordinary diaspora inflows, and strengthened confidence. Improved vaccination rates supported these trends and mitigation and recovery...

Preventive actions and a robust vaccination campaign mitigated the effects of COVID-19 variants on the economy. A nascent recovery, supported by targeted fiscal and monetary measures, is underway, with real GDP growth expected at 2 percent in 2021, strengthening to 2.7 percent in 2022. However,...

The 2016-20 ECF/EFF helped rehabilitate Moldova's banking sector, bolstering macro-financial stability. However, the COVID-19 pandemic, drought in 2020, and the ongoing surge in global energy prices, have slowed economic activity, intensified downside risks, and complicated policy making. While...

The global financial crisis of 2007–2008 might constitute another structural change in IMF lending after the Latin American debt crisis and the end of the Cold War. Using a panel dataset of 120 countries with IMF programmes from 1993 to 2016, I find that with the crisis, the importance of...

The 36-month exceptional access Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) with the Republic of Argentina approved by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in June 2018, later augmented in October 2018, represents the largest programme in the history of the Fund. The programme, however, has failed in all its...

Casualisation of labour is gradually gaining full ground under the Nigerian labour relations and this is becoming a source of great concern and alarm. Most workers are employed seasonally or for a fixed period as opposed to the usual permanent form of employment owing to the scarcity of jobs....

Globalization as the process of intensification of economic, political, social and cultural relations across international boundaries aimed at the transcendental homogenization of political and socio-economic theory across the globe, impacts significantly on African states through systematic...

This paper examines whether IMF lending is associated with increases in outflows to offshore financial centers (OFCs), known for bank secrecy and asset protection, relative to other international destinations. Using quarterly data from the BIS on bilateral bank deposits, we are unable to detect...

This paper evaluates the effects of IMF programs at the firm level and considers the role of the financing constraint of firms as a channel of transmission. We examine the different dimensions of a Fund program, namely participation, number, and scope of conditions. We find a positive effect of...

This Country Program Evaluation assesses the development effectiveness of the Bank Group's engagement in Madagascar between fiscal years 2007 and 2021 and surfaces lessons to inform the design and implementation of the next Bank Group-supported partnership strategy with Madagascar. The...

This Country Program Evaluation (CPE) assesses the development effectiveness of the World Bank Group's engagement with Bangladesh during the past decade (fiscal year [FY]11-20) and provides lessons to inform the next Bank Group supported strategy with Bangladesh and to countries facing similar...

This Country Program Evaluation (CPE) assesses the World Bank Group's development effectiveness in Chad over the past decade within a context of high fragility and extreme poverty. The report covers the implementation of the Interim Strategy Note (2010-12) and the Country Partnership Framework...

Interest is high on the World Bank's role in and use of the Low-Income Country Debt Sustainability Framework (LIC-DSF) in light of the sharp rise in debt stress among low-income countries and a changing global risk landscape in the years leading up to and resulting from the coronavirus pandemic...

Against the background of a decade of declining per-capita income and high inflation, the Article IV consultation focused on policies to begin to tackle Argentina's underlying impediments to sustained growth and low and stable inflation. Avoiding boom-bust dynamics suggests the need for greater...

On December 22, 2021, the IMF Executive Board approved a 36-month arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) with access of 366.8 percent of quota (SDR 472.8 million or USD 673 million). The Surinamese authorities' homegrown economic recovery plan aims to address systemic fiscal and...

On March 1, 2021, the IMF Executive Board approved a 36-month arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) with access of SDR 1.23749 billion (335 percent of quota, equivalent to USD 1.778 billion) to support the country's response to the pandemic and its reform efforts toward strong,...

The memo summarizes the design and use of the IMF's precautionary facilities since their introduction and discusses lessons and potential reform options. In particular, the framework for these facilities should be adjusted to address prolonged use at high access levels.