We examine the effects of oil rents on corruption and state stability exploiting the exogenous within-country variation of a new measure of oil rents for a panel of 31 oil-exporting countries during the period 1992 to 2005. We find that an increase in oil rents significantly increases...

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

The capacity of the Saudi Arabian banking sector to respond to macroeconomic shocks has been considerably strengthened over the past decade. The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA ) has been actively monitoring some emerging portfolio trends. Comprehensive reforms are under way to deepen...

An update on Saudi Arabia’s Financial System Stability Assessment (FSAP) is presented. Saudi Arabia has confronted the global financial crisis from a position of strength, and took decisive steps to manage the impact of the crisis. As a result, the financial system has weathered the crisis...

Saudi Arabia’s Report on Standards and Codes has been examined. The Capital Market Authority (CMA) has made significant progress in establishing its supervision credentials, including issuing implementing regulations. The CMA approach to supervision is both risk-based and compliance-focused,...

Over the last few decades, the economy of Saudi Arabia has strengthened, as oil prices increased with the rebound in global economic activity. Despite this, vulnerabilities to a sustained decline in the oil price have increased. Executive Directors have commended the authorities for their...

Multilateral Consultations are a new tool of multilateral surveillance for the IMF, designed to foster action-oriented debate and policy actions on a problem of systemic or regional importance. The first multilateral consultation focused on facilitating the resolution of global imbalances while...

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

The paper presents an update on the status of the standard template to collect data on government revenues from natural resources, originally presented to the Executive Board in January 2014. The paper discusses: (i) the field-testing of the standard template in six countries, which confirmed...