In this study, the economic developments and policy responses of Trinidad and Tobago after the crisis is reviewed. Policy recommendations are used to strengthen the legal and regulatory framework. According to the IMF’s financial system stability assessment (FSSA), there were critical gaps in...

This Selected Issues paper analyzes the background, stages and developments, and estimation of the direct costs of Paraguay's banking crisis. The paper provides the estimates on the size and evolution of the informal sector, and examines the extent to which the national accounts capture informal...

The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), scattered across an area of nearly 1 million square miles in the Central Pacific, is heavily dependent on external grants. As in past consultations, the current discussions have focused on policies to put public finances on a secure footing and improve...

Kazakhstan’s financial system remains highly stressed despite large-scale government support; the economy is expected to contract in the near future. The staff report for Kazakhstan’s 2009 Article IV Consultation discusses economic developments and policies. Kazakhstan is better placed than...

Fiscal policy has a strong foundation in the multiyear program of spending cuts, tax reforms, and deficit reduction in Germany. Germany's focus on actual, rather than cyclically adjusted, fiscal goals and outcomes carries the risk of rendering fiscal policy procyclical. The recent business and...

The paper addresses issues that arise in designing a framework for inflation targeting, with particular attention to features of the Bank of England's approach and experience. The comparison of welfare reform in the United Kingdom with similar efforts in other countries is discussed. The paper...

This 2008 Article IV Consultation highlights that the United Kingdom’s economic growth was above trend in 2006 and 2007. In terms of expenditure, the expansion was largely driven by private consumption, on the heels of strong employment, steady real wage and living standards growth, and a...

The U.K. economy is on the mend, but crisis-related scars still need healing. The challenge ahead will be to ensure sustainable recovery and balance sheet repair while remaining flexible to respond to shocks. A highly accommodative monetary stance is required to offset the contractionary impulse...

This paper estimates the extent of spare capacity in the U.K. economy using a range of methodologies pointing to an output gap and the behavior of inflation during large output gaps. The usefulness of fiscal rules in supporting fiscal consolidation is generally positive, and a more permanent...

This Selected Issues paper analyzes the energy sector and labor market developments in Trinidad and Tobago. It discusses monetary and exchange rate policy and describes the institutional setting and economic structure within which monetary and exchange rate policy is conducted. The framework...