This pamphlet focuses on the IMF's role in social policy advice. First,the evolution of the IMF's involvement in social issues is traced,and the lessons that can be drawn from this experience, includingpolicy implications, are outlined. This is followed by an elaboration of the social dimensions...

Five priority programs were identified to help stabilize the economy and lay the groundwork for equitable growth. The government's priority with this core strategy is to enhance macroeconomic management, government operations, and effective fiscal management to promote domestic and international...

In designing policy measures, including possible social safety nets, targeted to the poor, it is important to fully understand the efficiency implications of these measures. There is abundant macroeconomic literature on their negative effects on the poor’s work effort. The literature, however,...

This paper reviews developments in the Australian economy during the prolonged expansion of the 1990s. The focus is on developments in the real sector, public finances, monetary policy, and the balance of payments during 1996–97. The paper reviews longer-term developments in the labor market...

This Selected Issues paper examines the role that government policy in Australia plays in influencing household saving, both directly through its own saving and the structure of the tax, social security and welfare systems, and indirectly through the influence of the policy environment on...

This paper reviews developments in the Australian economy during 1994–95. In 1994/95, real GDP grew by 41⁄2 percent as growth in domestic demand accelerated sharply, rising by 63⁄4 percent, despite the impact of a severe drought on farm output. Business investment increased by 171⁄2...

This paper describes the developments in the Australian labor market during the 1990s. In 1994, a number of new labor market programs were launched, directed especially at the long-term unemployed, and a further step was taken in the evolutionary reform of the industrial relations system. The...

In this study, Australia’s economic performance from the onset of the global financial crisis is discussed. A healthy banking system, flexible exchange rate, and robust demand for commodities from Asia are important for good performance. Although recent global market volatility has increased...