This paper provides a number of complementary estimates of potential output and the output gap—variables that cannot be observed directly. After a substantial increase in the tax wedge in the 1970s and the 1980s, which has been widely thought to have been partly responsible for the sharp rise...

Real GDP growth is expected to slow to 2.6 percent in 2001, following four consecutive years of strong economic growth. A number of structural labor market measures have also been introduced, including an employment program for youth, reforms to encourage employment among older people, and...

Measuring the size of the underground economy is obviously a difficult task. This paper reviews the literature, as applied to Belgium and elsewhere, on the determinants of the gray economy. The methods that have been used to measure the size of the gray economy are also discussed. The estimates...

This paper discusses the Observance of Standards and Codes and Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendations for Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) in Belgium. In Belgium, the financial intelligence unit (CTIF-CFI) has noted a shift in money laundering...

The Fund, as Trustee of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT or Trust), has entered into new borrowing agreements with the National Bank of Belgium (Belgium) and the Swiss National Bank (Switzerland), effective on August 30, 2017. These new borrowing agreements with Belgium and...

This paper presents the first set of Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) borrowing agreements that have been signed to respond to the unprecedented demand for concessional financing during the COVID-19 pandemic. A fast-track loan mobilization round has been instrumental to allow the Fund...

In recent years, the IMF has released a growing number of reports and other documents covering economic and financial developments and trends in member countries. Each report, prepared by a staff team after discussions with government officials, is published at the option of the member country

In light of the multilateral effort to ensure the adequacy of the financial resources available to the International Monetary Fund, and with a view to supporting the Fund's ability to provide timely and effective balance of payments assistance to its members, the National Bank of Belgium agrees...

Effective November 12, 2012, the Fund, as Trustee of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT), entered into a borrowing agreement (the 'Agreement') with the National Bank of Belgium, by which Belgium will provide new loan resources of up to SDR 350 million (see attachment). With this...

The global financial crisis has forced government intervention in major financial institutions in Belgium. This 2008 Article IV Consultation discusses that the boom in energy and food prices in early 2008 caused inflation to spike to well above the euro area average. Executive Directors have...