This Selected Issues paper analyzes sustaining potential growth in Aruba. As in the other Caribbean countries, there are growing concerns in Aruba about the slowdown in economic growth over the past two decades and the consequent tepid outlook for potential growth. Tackling such concerns...

This Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper for Nigeria highlights the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS). NEEDS gives special support to agriculture, industry, small and medium-scale enterprises, and oil and gas. Under the plan, the government will seek long-term capital...

We show that US natural gas prices have decoupled from oil prices following substantial institutional and technological changes. We then examine how this interrelationship has evolved in Europe using data for Algeria, one of Europe’s key gas suppliers. Taking into account total gas...

This paper assesses recent developments in gas markets and the implications for Algerian gas demand and prices. Algeria’s gas production is stable but its share in global gas production has been on a downward trend since the early 2000s. The impact of a change in the spot oil price (WTI)...

Australia’s four largest banks can be considered domestically systemic. They make up the lion’s share of the banking system, use similar business models, and are interconnected. The top four banks are relatively similar in terms of systemic importance, partly reflecting the...

This 2013 Article IV Consultation highlights that the Australian economy has performed well relative to many other advanced economies since the global financial crisis. A transition phase has now been reached as the terms of trade-driven mining investment boom of the past decade has peaked, and...