This paper explores how the tax treatment of investment and savings affects international capital flows as well as national and global welfare. Focusing on portfolio investment, it evaluates the international effects of capital income taxes in the United States and Japan. During the 1980s, these...

This paper compares the effective rates of taxation faced by a representative investor located in a major capital-exporting country for investments in machinery and buildings in nine capital-importing European countries. Poland and Hungary are found to have relatively high effective tax rates on...

This paper explores the nature, significance and policy implications of spillovers in international corporate taxation-the effects of one country's rules and practices on others. It complements current initiatives focused on tax avoidance by multinationals, notably the G20-OECD project on Base...

A very ambitious fiscal adjustment effort is under way. Fiscal institutional and sectoral reforms have been elaborated for a more durable adjustment. Greece’s determination toward a comprehensive modernization of the health sector, beginning with a far-reaching reform of state enterprises...

This 2006 Article IV Consultation highlights that Italy’s economy is enjoying a broad-based, if comparatively modest, cyclical upswing. Output is estimated to have grown by 1¾ percent in 2006—the strongest pace since the beginning of the decade. Inflation is close to that of the...

St. Lucia showed strong growth performance owing to its strong investment in tourism infrastructure. Executive Directors commended the prudent public debt management and sound banking system. They underscored the need for fiscal consolidation and steps to promote domestic investment and labor...

Over the last two decades, Tunisia has carried out a wide ranging reform program based on improving the competitiveness of the economy, enhancing the business environment, and increasing trade openness. Tunisia weathered the international crisis relatively well. Tunisia growth could reach 3.8...

Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in sub-Saharan Africa, ranking 146 out of 177 on the United Nations Human Development Index. The country has one of the lowest tax revenue-to-GDP ratios in the world (10.1 percent in 2005). To address these challenges, the authorities are requesting a...

IMF engagement with Niger since 2005 has remained constructive. IMF-supported programs have contributed to the authorities’ goals of macroeconomic stability, growth, and human development progress. Development of Niger’s uranium and petroleum resources provides an important...

The Article IV Consultation highlights the financial system risks that have increased reflecting both the global financial market turbulence and continued rapid credit growth in Hungary. With most new borrowing in foreign currency, the private sector’s net foreign currency liabilities...