This Selected Issues paper for Algeria analyzes the potential economic impact of Algeria’s Association Agreement with the European Union (AAEU). The paper lays out the major elements of Algeria’s AAEU and makes a comparison with other AAEUs. It discusses the potential economic...

What accounts for variations in FDI flows from advanced to developing countries? How have FDI inflows explained cross-country growth experiences? In this paper we tackle both these questions empirically for a large sample of middle and low-income countries. Two key results emerge: (i) lower...

This Selected Issues paper describes the recent economic developments in The Gambia. The paper highlights that the economic performance of The Gambia deteriorated sharply in 2002, as sparse rainfall led to a decline of one-third in agricultural output. Real GDP shrank by 3 percent. However,...

This study examines the determinants of entry into by foreign firms, using information on 515 Chinese industries at the provincial level during 1998-2001. The analysis, rooted in the new economic geography, focuses on market and supplier access within and outside the province of entry, as well...

This paper reports on progress made on Nicaragua’s National Human Development Plan as of 2010. The operational goal for Nicaragua’s National Human Development Plan is economic growth with increased employment and reduced inequality and poverty. The results for 2007–10...

This 2005 Article IV Consultation highlights that economic growth in Morocco has been volatile and insufficient to significantly reduce poverty and unemployment. Growth averaged 3 percent over the last decade. It has been volatile because of the dependency of agriculture on rainfalls. In 2004,...

This Selected Issues paper presents background notes on El Salvador’s economic growth, national savings, and implications of the Central American Free-Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA). The paper describes possible factors behind sluggish growth in El Salvador in recent...

This paper presents an overview of the economy of Hungary. The paper highlights that during the Fifth Five-Year Plan (1976–80), actual growth rates for almost all major plan aggregates remained below the targets. The lower targets set for the increase in both consumption and investment in...

Poverty risk is most marked for children, displaced persons and returnees, unemployed, and people with low education. Basic goals of the macroeconomic framework of the mid-term development strategy of Bosnia and Herzegovina are to reduce the overall public expenditures, lower the public debt,...

The Mauritian economy showed strong performance owing to its sound macroeconomic policies. Executive Directors emphasized the need to remain competitive and address the growing unemployment problem. They commended the efforts to support the developments in financial services, free port...