During the twin crises of 2008–09 Georgia’s foreign exchange reserves have been exposed to a number of external and internal drains. Its exports declined by 21 percent from peak to trough. Bank deposits declined by more than 20 percent in late 2008–early 2009, while deposit dollarization...

This Selected Issues paper reviews the financial sector development in Georgia in recent years, and investigates why it has lagged behind economic development, as well as developments in more advanced transition economies. The paper briefly reviews recent financial sector development in Georgia,...

This paper investigates the relationship between unrecorded economic activity associated with the production of illicit coca and formally recorded economic activity in Peru. It does so by attempting to construct new regional level estimates for coca production and by implementing recently...

This Selected Issues paper discusses the designing and implementing of Kuwait’s fiscal policy for the medium term. Fiscal policy has a major role to play in supporting macrostability and diversification. The fiscal strategy design and implementation on a yearly basis are based on a few...

This paper discusses Ukraine’s Request for a Stand-by Arrangement. Ukraine’s economy had been in recession since mid-2012. Inconsistent macroeconomic policies pursued in 2012–2013 aggravated deep-seated vulnerabilities and eventually generated a balance-of-payment crisis....

This paper discusses Ukraine’s Ex Post Evaluation of Exceptional Access Under the 2010 Stand-By Arrangement. For the most part, the 2010 program was appropriately designed given the ambitious agenda it had set out to accomplish. The macroeconomic strategy and program design correctly...

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The first review discussions took place in a context of heightened geopolitical tensions and deepening economic crisis. Intensification of the conflict in the East and escalation of the gas dispute with Gazprom, two of the key risks identified at the time of the program...