This paper reviews Uzbekistan’s Interim Welfare Improvement Strategy Paper (I-WISP). I-WISP defines the main directions and measures aimed at improving living standards and reducing poverty among the population of Uzbekistan for 2005–10. The strategy is designed to further expand...

After a short-lived slowdown in the immediate aftermath of the global financial crisis and a swift rebound, emerging markets (EM) are now entering a period of slower growth. In fact, growth is now lower than the post-crisis peak of 2010-11, as well as the rates seen in the decade before the...

Paraguay’s economy recently experienced particularly large output swings. Economic policies will play a critical role in raising investment by making sure that macroeconomic stability is maintained. The spillovers from the agricultural sector to the rest of the economy are limited. The...

The global financial crisis hit Denmark hard, and the recovery has been slow and unsteady. Denmark’s slow growth predates the recent economic crisis, and the economy has underperformed its regional peers. The current account remains in surplus, largely reflecting weak domestic demand...

This Selected Issues paper for Chile assesses the impact of the global financial crisis on Chilean banks. It provides a framework for analyzing government measures aimed at reducing systemic risk. The analysis suggests that Chilean banks are resilient to global and regional shocks. However, even...

This paper discusses key findings of the Fourth Review Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) for Rwanda. All but one of the end-2007 quantitative performance criteria were met. IMF staff supports the authorities’ request for a waiver of the nonobservance of the...

This Selected Issues Paper and Statistical Appendix for Niger are discussed. The Nigerien economic outlook has been improving since 1999. After a long period of decline in per capita income, growth accelerated through 2007, attaining an annual average of 4 percent, or about 1 percent in per...

Chile’s economy has withstood successfully two consecutive large negative shocks—the global financial crisis and the February 2010 earthquake. The financial system has weathered the crisis well and the cyclical deterioration of credit quality has been moderate. Large-scale private...

Although economic performance has remained good, difficulties in building consensus for institutional reform have caused an ill-affordable hiatus in economic policymaking. Robust economic activity absorbed a growing labor force and allowed the unemployment rate to decline continuously....