This technical note on the Republic of Poland underlies the country’s credit, growth, and financial stability. A broad-based statistical and econometric analysis of financial and household balance sheet data implies that exchange rate-related credit risk and liquidity risk are currently...

A country's level of financial development and the legal environment in which financial intermediaries and markets operate critically influence economic development. In countries whose financial sectors are more fully developed and whose legal systems protect the rights of outside investors,...

This Selected Issues paper and Statistical Appendix summarizes the factors explaining Vanuatu’s recent growth performance, which has weakened since the mid-1990s. The paper highlights that Vanuatu’s annual rate of growth averaged 3⁄4 percent during 1997–2001, compared with 43⁄4 percent...

This Selected Issues paper on Ghana shows that as a small, open low-income economy, the country faces several major challenges in its conduct of disinflation policy. Ghana has historically experienced volatile and often high inflation rates. The paper also presents a model that recognizes...

This paper reviews trends in GDP and other macroeconomic variables since independence. It assesses the performance of the different sectors of the economy and expenditure categories. The paper identifies a number of products that could contribute to maintaining the high growth rate that...

Iran has received much attention from a geopolitical and regional standpoint, but its economic challenges have not attracted a similar degree of interest. With a population of 69 million, considerable hydrocarbon resources, a dynamic and entrepreneurial middle class, and a relatively...

This Selected Issues paper reviews trends in GDP and their impact on poverty reduction in Ghana. It highlights structural constraints that are believed to have affected output growth, along with potential sources of increases in output in future years. The paper analyzes trends in the main...