Although the advent of the single currency has generated many advantages for the smaller economies of the euro area, it has raised the possibility that both the amplitude and the duration of cycles in these countries will prove greater than in the past. In the absence of country-specific...

The past decade has witnessed a progressive weakening of the Antillean economy, and prospects for a recovery depend on reinvigorating and sustaining adjustment. There is a need for more vigorous reforms, well coordinated across governments and supported by building social consensus. Fiscal...

This 1999 Article IV Consultation highlights that Aruba’s real GDP grew at an annual rate of some 3 percent in 1998, while inflation remained subdued at about 2 percent. Comparable rates of satisfactory growth and low inflation have characterized the island’s development since the mid-1990s,...

The government’s plans to reform the tax system and administration are well founded. The Central Bank of Aruba is to be commended for its prudent management of monetary policy, as demonstrated by the continued credibility and strength of the peg to the U.S. dollar, buttressed by a robust...