This Selected Issues paper analyzes the sustainability of Papua New Guinea’s current and medium-term fiscal policy and its consistency with government objectives. The Papua New Guinea government faces major challenges in shaping a fiscal policy that promotes stability, meets development...

This 2014 Article IV Consultation highlights that Papua New Guinea’s economy is experiencing an important transition, as new liquefied natural gas (LNG) production and exports commence. With LNG production and exports now starting, resource sector growth is projected to surge in 2015, but...

To investigate the effects on Papua New Guinea’s economy of substantial liquified natural gas revenues arriving in 2015, we employ a model to examine the macroeconomic effects of a scalingup of natural resource windfall revenues and the implications for a variety of policy responses. The model...

This 2013 Article IV Consultation highlights that Papua New Guinea has achieved strong economic growth over the past decade, benefiting from high commodity prices, mineral investment inflows, sound macroeconomic policies, and financial sector stability. The current account deficit is expected to...

This paper reports on progress made on Nicaragua’s National Human Development Plan as of 2010. The operational goal for Nicaragua’s National Human Development Plan is economic growth with increased employment and reduced inequality and poverty. The results for 2007–10...

While anecdotal evidence suggests that interest groups play a key role in shaping immigration policy, there is no systematic empirical analysis of this issue. In this paper, we construct an industry-level dataset for the United States, by combining information on the number of temporary work...

Subsidy reform has been a key component of the pre-accession reform agenda of the 10 new member states that joined the EU in 2004 (EU-10). During the pre-accession period, these countries had to undertake a number of important structural reforms in their economies. One of the most critical...

South-South trade agreements are proliferating: Developing countries signed 70 new agreements between 1990 and 2003. Yet the impact of these agreements is largely unknown. This paper focuses on the static effects of South-South preferential trade agreements stemming from changes in trade...

This paper presents an overview of the economy of Hungary. The paper highlights that during the Fifth Five-Year Plan (1976–80), actual growth rates for almost all major plan aggregates remained below the targets. The lower targets set for the increase in both consumption and investment in...

The government of Rwanda has recognized that economic development in most areas would have to be the responsibility of the private sector (particularly since military and civil service employment would be reduced), but that the public sector could still have a role in promoting economic equality...