This paper attempts to assess the impact of the oil shock on South Asian economies, including Sri Lanka, as well as policy responses to deal with the shock, and the real income loss for low-income households if fuel subsidies were fully removed. The most important impact has been on the balance...

The Savings Working Group in New Zealand presented recommendations in February 2011, and suggested raising national saving by 2–3 percent of GDP. The increase in net public saving in the country explains part of the reason for lower net private saving in New Zealand. Net public saving of...

The paper takes stock of the impact of the global financial crisis that began in late 2007 on banking sectors of Asian low-income countries, by exploring bank-level data provided by Bankscope. The paper examines three key channels of possible crisis spillovers: exposures to (i) valuation changes...

Ensuring stable growth in the postcrisis world economy will require a rebalancing of economic activity in several countries. In Asia’s export-dependent economies, this entails relying more on private domestic demand as a driver of growth. While some countries need to raise consumption,...

This report provides an update of the assessment of Lao P.D.R.'s macroeconomic conditions and outlook presented at the time of the 2004 Article IV Consultation and in the Assessment Letter of March 10, 2005