The first part of the study investigates Australia’s recent growth and productivity performance and then analyzes the impact of structural reforms on productivity growth. The short- and long-term effects of structural reforms on productivity growth are estimated using pooled and fixed effect...

The impact of the global crisis was milder in Australia than in other advanced economies owing to strong demand from Asia and decisive policy responses. Australian banks were resilient to the global crisis, and the labor market was flexible in the face of the shock. The exit from fiscal stimulus...

The Article IV Consultation discusses that recently a commodity price boom, driven by robust global demand, has pushed the Australian economy up against capacity constraints. Banks are adjusting the structure of their funding in response to the turmoil, increasing liquidity, and lengthening the...

This Selected Issues paper on Australia highlights the IMF’s new Global Integrated Monetary and Fiscal Model (GIMF), which is used to examine the macroeconomic implications of alternative fiscal responses to higher revenue. Lower labor and capital income taxes, along with higher public...

The evaluation of the anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) regime of Australia was based on the Forty Recommendations 2003 and the Eight Special Recommendations on Terrorist Financing 2001 of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), and was prepared using the...

The key findings of Australia’s BASEL II implementation assessment are presented. The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) allocated sufficient resources, including highly skilled staff, prior to the Basel II start date, and the outcome has been a robust and high-quality...

This assessment of the current state of Australia’s implementation of the Basel Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision has been completed as part of a Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) undertaken in December 2005 by the International Monetary Fund. The assessment team...

This 2007 Article IV Consultation highlights that the lengthy expansion brought the Australian economy to a position of near full employment. Inflation had eased in late 2006 and early 2007, but accelerated in the second quarter. The current account deficit was 51⁄2 percent of GDP in 2006. The...

The Australian banking system, which holds approximately half of total financial systems assets, and is dominated by four major banks, is sound with high earnings, high asset growth, and low levels of problem assets. Stress tests did not reveal near-term stability concerns, suggesting the...