This paper presents the Joint Staff Assessment of Tanzania’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) Progress Report. Despite a drought, real economic growth is estimated to have been about 5 percent, sound macroeconomic management was maintained, and notable progress was made in the...

This Report on the Interim IMF Staff Visit to Lebanon provides information on economic and policy developments since the Article IV discussions of February–March 2004. It updates the IMF staff’s projections, medium-term framework, and related Debt Sustainability Analysis. All...

This paper on the midyear review of the 2005 staff-monitored program for Sudan reports that after a mixed performance under the staff-monitored program, the authorities are taking corrective measures to bring the program back on track. They imposed strict controls on nonpriority government...

In the social sectors, encouraging results were obtained in education. The Ten-Year Education Program was finalized, creating a solid basis for the implementation of actions in this sector. According to the most recent estimates, the basic enrolment rate was 41.7 percent in 2002 compared with...

This paper presents the Joint Staff Assessment of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) for Mali. The PRSP finalized by the Malian authorities in May 2002 presents a credible policy framework to reduce poverty. The PRSP acknowledges the need for further work to systematize participation...

St. Vincent and the Grenadines’s 2003 Article IV Consultation reports that it had moderate levels of public sector debt and debt service during the 1990s. To reduce growth volatility, since the mid-1990s, the government has attempted to implement an economic diversification program...

The Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) on Burkina Faso focus on recapitulation of major long-term development. To improve the identification and targeting of the major public actions that contribute to combating poverty, the government has decided to prepare a Priority Action Program...

This paper assesses changes in the size and scope of government in 24 transition economies. Whereas these governments have retrenched in terms of public expenditures in relation to GDP, as well as public employment as a share of population, some indicators suggest that size remains high (e.g.,...

This paper assesses the relative strengths and weaknesses of fiscal institutions in ten Southeastern European countries, using recent benchmarking methodologies developed by FAD. The assessment evaluates each country’s understanding of the scale of the fiscal adjustment challenge, its...

Niger’s Fourth Review Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility and Request for Waiver and Modification of Performance Criteria are examined. Economic growth in 2006 has been satisfactory at 4.8 percent, owing to a good harvest for the second year in a row, and strong mining,...