This paper shows how growth and demography, two important determinants of the savings rate in the life-cycle approach, explain a large part of the diversity in savings behavior in Asia across eight countries as well as over time. Inflation and adverse movements in the terms of trade are found to...

The paper analyzes the development of government social expenditure during the economic stabilization period, with specific reference to the changing needs for such expenditure arising from the change in Israel’s demographic structure. The results reveal a real cut in direct services. The...

This paper reviews the financial implications of aging for the pension system in Belgium during 1995-2050. Our simulations indicate a strong rise in pension expenditure over the next half century, as is the case in other industrialized countries. In Belgium, the problem is particularly acute in...

This review of Phase I of the technical assistance (TA) General Data Dissemination System (GDDS) project (2001-2006) for 15 Anglophone African countries1-funded by the U.K. Department for International Development (DFID) and executed jointly by the Fund and the World Bank-(henceforth, referred...

This report provides an assessment of the British Virgin Islands’s (BVI) compliance with the Basel Core Principle for effective banking supervision. The BVI has the preconditions for effective banking supervision. It has specific legislation governing international cooperation and mutual legal...

This Selected Issues paper examines the factors determining housing prices in the United Kingdom. Based on econometric evidence, the paper assesses whether recent housing price increases can be explained by fundamentals or whether they represent a temporary overshooting of housing prices,...

This report reviews the assessment of Jersey’s compliance with the Basel core principles for effective banking supervision based on the Core Principles. It provides a detailed assessment of the antimoney laundering and combating the financing of terrorism regime of Jersey and reviews its laws...

This Selected Issues paper for the Netherlands highlights that Dutch cost competitiveness deteriorated significantly in the years prior to 2004. The relatively poor economic performance during the new millennium contributed to these concerns generally, as did restrained export performance more...

The British Virgin Islands (BVI) has most of the essential elements for a suitable framework for financial supervision. There is a weakness with respect to onsite supervision of banking, insurance, and securities sectors; and there is currently no regular and comprehensive examination and...

The United Kingdom (U.K.) economy has weathered the global slowdown well, supported by an countercyclical monetary policy and an expansionary fiscal stance. Executive Directors welcomed this developments, and stressed the need to tighten monetary, fiscal, and macroeconomic policies. They...