This note addresses key issues with respect to trade policy in financial services and its linkages to capital flows, and prudential regulations and supervision under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), preferential trade agreements (PTAs), and bilateral investment treaties (BITs)....

Japan showed strong economic recovery from the crisis. Executive Directors welcomed the development and stressed the need for a strong monetary framework, well-designed fiscal consolidation, and structural reforms. Directors agreed that the Bank of Japan’s monetary framework is well...

This 2013 Article IV Consultation highlights that Germany’s economic rebound of 2010–11 gave way to weakening momentum during the course of 2012. Although exports to non-European trading partners began to recover by mid-2012, in line with improved prospects in the United States and...

This Selected Issues paper on Burundi highlights that after the Arusha Peace Agreement in 2000 Burundi has faced a wide range of challenges to generate sustained and equitable economic growth and improve social conditions. Burundi has begun to stabilize the economy, liberalized the trade and...

This Selected Issues paper for the Republic of Armenia shows that building up fiscal space during economic expansions is crucial for the effective implementation of stimulatory policies during downturns. Armenia’s tax revenue remains one of the lowest in the region, and significantly below...

The financial sector is mostly comprised of the banking sector, which largely provides insurance and asset management services. A large part of banking system assets relates to subsidiaries and branches of foreign banks. The banking sector poses risks by virtue of its size and concentration. The...

Although Armenia itself has a population of only about 3 million, an estimated 8 million Armenians live abroad. In this paper, the size and the sources of remittances to Armenia are first discussed. Then, the appropriate definition of remittances and subsequently present estimates of the...

This Selected Issues paper analyzes the decentralization of government in the Union of the Comoros and its economic management functions foreseen under the constitution. The paper examines the special challenge of combining a civil service reform needed to increase the efficiency of the civil...