The Fund has taken important steps to enhance its external sector assessments since the launch of the External Balance Assessment (EBA) methodology and the External Sector Report (ESR) in 2012, which provides a multilaterally consistent assessment of the largest economies' external sector...

A common proposal designed to deal with the developing countries’ debt problem is that there be set up some kind of “international debt facility” which would buy up debt at a discount and then write down its contractual value, hence providing debt relief. There are three main parties to...

The global crisis has underscored the need for effective global financial safety nets to protect countries with sound policy frameworks from adverse outcomes. Complementing the traditional crisis resolution role of the IMF, which has been instrumental during the recent crisis and is expected to...

This 2012 Article IV Consultation highlights that despite a difficult economic and social context, Burundi has made steady, though uneven, progress in implementing its Extended Credit Facility (ECF)-supported economic reforms. Real GDP growth is estimated to have increased to 4.2 percent in...

This 2008 Article IV Consultation highlights that Mauritania’s macroeconomic performance over recent years was satisfactory, despite a steeper-than-expected decline in oil production reflecting persistent technical problems a and difficult external environment. The real non-oil GDP growth is...

The authorities reiterated their firm commitment to the policies and objectives outlined in the May 17, 2010 Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies. They are committed to a reduction in other primary spending by 2 percentage points of GDP. With the medium-term outlook broadly unchanged,...

Mali’s 2008 Article IV Consultation and request for a Three-Year Arrangement Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility are discussed. Mali’s economy has doubled in size since the democratic transition of the early 1990s. Sound macroeconomic management has produced growth averaging...

This First Review Under the Policy Support Instrument (PSI) for Nigeria reports that structural reforms are proceeding in line with the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy. The authorities’ commitments under the PSI primary objectives of the economic reform program include...

This paper presents Mali’s First Review under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility, and requests for Waiver of Nonobservance of Performance Criteria. The food and fuel price shocks have begun to moderate, partly because of the authorities' supply-side measures and declining oil prices....

Over the last several years, Cape Verde has achieved a major economic transformation that is a tribute to its sound homegrown economic reform program. This 2008 Article IV Consultation highlights that real per capita GDP in Cape Verde has increased on average by more than 7 percent a year since...