India’s 2005 Article IV Consultation reports that the government’s medium-term fiscal strategy is broadly appropriate, and faster implementation is crucial for its economy. India’s growth spurt provides a golden opportunity to fast-forward the government’s structural...

This paper uses VAR models to examine the magnitude and sources of growth spillovers to the Baltics from key trading partners, as well asfrom the real effective exchange rate (REER). Our results show there are significant cross-country spillovers to the Baltics with those from the EU outweighing...

The creation, in 1994, of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) customs union was a major step in the regional integration process in central Africa. The implementation of the agreed regime by the member countries, however, has remained unsatisfactory. A 2002–03...

This Selected Issues paper is a wide-ranging survey of the conditions for, and obstacles to, the growth in Mexico. It frames the issue of Mexico’s growth record, and presents the paper’s prior assumptions and approach. It highlights the main observations and conclusions emerging...

This 2004 Article IV Consultation highlights that after a period of prolonged weakness in economic activity, persistent deflation and rising fiscal deficits, the macroeconomic outlook for Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has improved significantly since mid-2003. The recovery has gained...

This Selected Issues paper on the Republic of Estonia underlies gross and net international investment positions. Capital gains have been exceptionally beneficial to Malta’s external position, but have significantly worsened Estonia’s NIIP, and to a lesser degree, positions in...

Anglophone African countries have been implementing reform and modernization initiatives in their Customs administrations. This paper outlines the progression of key reform and modernization initiatives in these countries since the early 1990s, and assesses the gap between these reforms and...

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...

One of the most significant recent developments in world trade has been the entry of China into the World Trade Organization (WTO). This paper examines the implications of China's WTO accession for India's trade, using both econometrics and computable general equilibrium (CGE) models. The paper...

Belarus was hard hit by the global economic crisis. An exceptional access Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) was, therefore, agreed in early 2009. The program was generally successful and most program conditions were met. The program was overall well designed, but with some shortcomings. While in part...