This Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper for Nigeria highlights the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS). NEEDS gives special support to agriculture, industry, small and medium-scale enterprises, and oil and gas. Under the plan, the government will seek long-term capital...

This 2007 Article IV Consultation highlights that following an extended boom led by strong domestic demand, the slowdown in the United States has largely reflected a drag from residential investment as the housing market has weakened substantially. Unexpected weakness in business investment and...

This 2005 Article IV Consultation underlies that in 2004, Libya’s macroeconomic performance was satisfactory, owing mainly to higher oil prices and increased oil output. Real GDP grew 4½ percent while consumer prices declined. The favorable developments in the oil market contributed to...

This 2004 Article IV Consultation highlights that the Libyan economy remains largely state controlled and heavily dependent on the oil sector. Since the lifting of the Libya-specific trade sanctions of the United Nation and United States in September 2003 and September 2004, respectively, the...

This study reviews selected issues on investor protection and corporate governance in Australia, and concludes that the corporate governance framework for Australian-listed companies is largely healthy and dynamic. Shareholder activism is an important element of corporate governance because it...

Canada’s macroeconomic and policy performance has continued to outshine most other industrial countries, and its outlook remains favorable. The new government has pledged to maintain the strong social consensus in favor of fiscal surpluses, while aiming at enhancing incentives. The new...

This paper presents Detailed Assessment of the United States’s implementation of the International Organization of Securities Commissions’ Objectives and Principles of Securities Regulation. The general preconditions for effective securities regulation in the United States are...

This 2007 Article IV Consultation highlights that despite recent progress in poverty reduction, Yemen remains far from achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Oil production has been declining since 2000, and in the absence of major discoveries, proven oil reserves could be depleted in some...

This Selected Issues paper on Bolivia reports that it has experienced major increases in its gas reserves, production, and exports. Not only have their levels increased significantly, but also there have been extensive regulatory changes, which range from the privatization of the mid-1990s to...

This Selected Issues paper reviews the developments, issues, and prospects of the petroleum sector of Kazakhstan, and analyzes the recent strong economic growth, the links between the oil and the non-oil sector, and assesses the contribution of each sector. It explores the trade policy options...