Aid for trade can support countries trying to further benefit from the expanding global market place by helping to address poorly performing infrastructure and institutions. Needless to say, good policies also matter: trade liberalization, improving incentives for private investment in trade,...

Despite the growing support for market-oriented strategies, and for a greater role of private investment, empirical growth models for developing countries typically make no distinction between the private and public components of investment. This paper sheds some light on this important issue by...

This paper is the fifth in a series that examines macroeconomic developments and prospects in low-income developing countries (LIDCs). LIDCs are a group of 59 IMF member countries primarily defined by income per capita below a threshold level. LIDCs contain one fifth of the world's...

The coronavirus crisis has stiffened debt and development-related headwinds that had become strong even before 2020. Sustaining development while maintaining debt sustainability has been made harder by the protracted effects of the pandemic on public finances, earnings and employment, and human...

This paper focuses on the Strategy for Accelerated Growth and Sustainable Development (SCADD) for Burkina Faso. It provides an overview of a decade of development, takes stock of the recent performance of Burkina Faso in various areas, and identifies the main challenges. The paper spells out a...

Rwanda’s Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy provides a medium-term framework for achieving the country’s long-term development goals and aspirations as embodied in Rwanda Vision 2020, the seven-year Government of Rwanda programme, and the Millennium Development...

This paper describes the Kingdom of Lesotho’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper and National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP) 2012/13–2016/17. NSDP recognizes, as a point of departure, the need and urgency for Lesotho to radically transform its economy. To achieve the National...