The staff report for the 2004 Article IV Consultation on the Kingdom of the Netherlands—Netherlands highlights the economic developments and policies. The economy is beginning to emerge from an extended downturn. Meanwhile, against a background of soft labor market conditions and economic...

This Selected Issues paper focuses on the fiscal challenge for Belgium in coping with population aging, including the sustainability of prevailing fiscal federalism arrangements across all levels of governments. The analysis demonstrates that the current strategy of upfront consolidation is...

This paper discusses a request from Congo for the Rapid-Access Component of the Exogenous Shocks Facility. Performance on the 2008 staff-monitored program was mixed, complicated by the effects of the exogenous shock. Although weaknesses remain, the authorities strengthened public financial...

Staff Report for the 2012 Article IV consultation, prepared by a staff team of the IMF, following discussions that ended on July 23, 2012, with the officials of Sudan on economic developments and policies. Based on information available at the time of these discussions, the staff report was...

This 2013 Article IV Consultation highlights that Sudan’s economic performance in 2012 was unfavorable despite the introduction in June 2012 of a package of reforms. Non-oil real GDP growth slowed to 4.6 percent, inflation rose to 44.4 percent by the end of the year, and the gap between...

The shift to a parliamentary democracy in 2010 provided an impetus for the Kyrgyz Republic to reform the economy. Despite the recent progress, the Kyrgyz Republic faces significant economic challenges, which will require actions on many fronts. Improving the business climate, governance, and...

This paper examines foreign exchange intervention practices and their effectiveness using a new qualitative and quantitative database for a panel of 15 economies covering 2004 - 10, with special focus on Latin America. Qualitatively, it examines institutional aspects such as declared motives,...