The Icelandic government has launched a review of the tax system, with a view to improving its income redistribution, growth orientation, and efficiency features, as well as increasing its revenue mobilization potential. It aims at minimizing detrimental effects on employment and growth, and at...

This paper analyzes the workings and effectiveness of the monetary transmission mechanism in Papua New Guinea. The paper is organized as follows: it describes the current institutional structure in Papua New Guinea; interest rate is discussed; the evidence from vector autoregression analysis on the...

The strategy that has the best chance of allowing the Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI) to achieve fiscal sustainability after FY2023 involves substantial fiscal consolidation. The alternative (policy action) scenario involves a substantial fiscal adjustment starting in FY2009. Projections show...

This Selected Issues paper for the Solomon Islands reviews budget trends in the past decade and assesses medium-term budget prospects. Aid flows and revenue from import tariffs and logging are projected to decline. Spending pressures are likely to pick up considerably, owing to the need to...

This Selected Issues paper outlines economic developments in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) since independence in 1986, focusing on the challenges posed by dependence on foreign grants, and progress toward achieving budgetary self-reliance. Like most other Pacific islands, the RMI...

This Selected Issues paper and Statistical Appendix surveys the main reasons for Papua New Guinea’s disappointing economic performance, highlighting the key impediments to growth in each of the main sectors of the economy. The paper outlines the structural reforms that could help reduce these...

This Selected Issues and Statistical Appendix paper reviews the path of Papua New Guinea’s external debt over the last decade. It explains the underlying macroeconomic framework to better understand the dynamics behind the external debt profile, and assesses the relative scale of the public...

This Selected Issues paper explores the medium-term determinants of the current account balance in Papua New Guinea. It provides an assessment of the exchange rate, and presents some background on recent exchange rate developments. It uses two dynamic panel regression models to estimate the...

This Selected Issues paper examines prospects for increasing growth and reducing poverty in the Solomon Islands. The paper highlights that agriculture constitutes the largest sector of the Solomon Islands economy, averaging about 20 percent of GDP throughout the 1990s. The Solomon Islands also...

This paper presents the Tax Summary for the Solomon Islands. The paper discusses that normal business expenses are deductible against chargeable income. A $7,800 personal exemption applies to both resident and nonresident individuals. This general exemption is subject to apportionment on a...