The report gives details of the economic analysis for the implementation of Chile's inflation targeting framework. It reviews the current state of liquidity in the Chilean fixed-income markets and developments and impediments to the supply of corporate bonds to the market. The paper considers a...

Upon entry into the European Union, countries become members of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), with a derogation from adopting the euro as their currency (that is, each country joining the EU commits to replace its national currency with the euro, but can choose when to request...

In this paper, we first introduce investment-specific technology (IST) shocks to an otherwise standard international real business cycle model and show that a thoughtful calibration of them along the lines of Raffo (2009) successfully addresses the "quantity", "international comovement",...

"This volume provides the most comprehensive estimates of worldwide energy subsidies currently available, drawing on data from 176 countries in the areas of petroleum products, natural gas, coal, and electricity. It lays out an analysis of "how to do" energy subsidy reform, drawing on insights...

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...

Tanzania’s economy experienced adverse supply shocks in 2011. The Fourth Review under the policy support instrument (PSI) discusses that tighter fiscal and monetary policies are addressing the inflationary impact of the drought/energy shock. Performance under the PSI-supported program has...

This paper focuses on Togo’s Poverty Reduction Strategy. The Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper adopted by the government in March 2008 has allowed Togo once again to benefit from international financial cooperation. With a view to improving political and economic governance, the...

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...

Ghana’s macroeconomic outlook is positive, and the medium-term policy stance is appropriate. On the fiscal side, the government plans to scale up infrastructure investment and further boost revenues. A revised debt sustainability analysis suggests scope for higher nonconcessional...

Energy subsidies have wide-ranging economic consequences. While aimed at protecting consumers, subsidies aggravate fiscal imbalances, crowd-out priority public spending, and depress private investment, including in the energy sector. Subsidies also distort resource allocation by encouraging...