The 2007 Article IV Consultation with the Kingdom of the Netherlands explains fiscal policy and financial sector issues. Improvements in the macroeconomic and business environments and technological innovation have contributed positively to Dutch competitiveness. Executive Directors emphasized...

Barbados’s 2008 Article IV Consultation is focused on policies to balance the conflicting risks to inflation, growth, and medium-term sustainability. Although the government has maintained some policy space by postponing the liberalization of the capital account, its options are...

France’s economic short-term outlook is positive, and long-term prospects have improved. Fiscal adjustment remains high on the government’s agenda. Tax reforms have improved the economy’s growth potential. Reforms in financial, labor, and product markets are necessary to...

The staff report for the 2004 Article IV Consultation on France highlights economic performance and near-term outlook and policies. On structural issues, a health care reform has established the key instruments to gain control over the system’s budget. Ongoing civil service reform and...

This paper examines Peru’s 2002 Article IV Consultation, First Review Under the Stand-By Arrangement, and a Request for Modification and Waiver of Performance Criteria. The fiscal policy was tightened in early 2002 from the expansionary stance in the second half of 2001. The baseline...

In recent years, the IMF has released a growing number of reports and other documents covering economic and financial developments and trends in member countries. Each report, prepared by a staff team after discussions with government officials, is published at the option of the member country.

This 2002 Article IV Consultation highlights that Belgium’s real GDP growth fell sharply in 2001 to 0.8 percent and remained weak in 2002 at an estimated 0.7 percent. The fundamental factor behind these developments was the slowdown in the economies of Belgium’s trading partners,...

This paper examines Peru’s 2004 Article IV Consultation, Fourth Review Under the Stand-By Arrangement, and Request for Waiver of Nonobservance of Performance Criterion. In 2003, Peru’s real GDP grew by 4 percent, with inflation of 2.5 percent and a further strengthening of the...

In recent years, the IMF has released a growing number of reports and other documents covering economic and financial developments and trends in member countries. Each report, prepared by a staff team after discussions with government officials, is published at the option of the member country.

This 2002 Article IV Consultation highlights that the real GDP of the United Kingdom increased at an average rate of some 2.8 percent, and the unemployment rate halved to below 5 percent by April 2001. Inflation, which has been low since the mid-1990s, was—on a harmonized...