It is striking how often countries with oil or other natural resource wealth have failed to grow more rapidly than those without. This is the phenomenon known as the Natural Resource Curse. The principle has been borne out in some econometric tests of the determinants of economic performance...

This guidance note describes how to use the Excel-based template developed by the Fiscal Affairs Department (FAD) of the IMF accompanying the note 'How to Design a Fiscal Strategy in a Resource-Rich Country.' This template uses data inputs to generate simulations of fiscal policy dynamics. It...