The government’s strong monetary and fiscal policy framework, as well as the structural reforms introduced, have enabled the Canadian economy to respond flexibly to recent shocks and laid a solid foundation for recovery. Macroeconomic policies should remain supportive, with fiscal policy...

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report is provided to support the work of the ‘Sheshinski II’ committee in reviewing the fiscal regime for mining. Mining is, and will remain, relatively minor both as a source of government revenue and within the wider economy. Nonetheless, it is important...

This Selected Issues paper examines the housing market in Israel. Property prices in Israel are currently about 25 percent above their equilibrium value, owing largely to low mortgage interest rates and supply shortages. Price-to-income and price-to-rent ratios are well above their equilibrium...

This 2013 Article IV Consultation highlights that Israel’s economic fundamentals has remained strong. GDP growth is solid, unemployment is low, and inflation remains firmly anchored within the 1–3 percent target range. The financial sector is in good health, and the external...

The paper utilizes a theoretical stock-flow accounting model of the labor market, similar to Blanchard and Diamond (1989). Identifying restrictions are derived from the theoretical model and are imposed on a SVAR system. The estimation allows for decomposing fluctuations to their cyclical and...

This report analyzes the Israeli economy and its financial system in detail. A strong macroprudential framework is believed to be an effective tool in identifying in advance and extenuating threats that arise within the financial domain. It is also stated that the present fragile global economic...

This Selected Issues Paper discusses the macroeconomic implications of pension reforms in Brazil. It assesses empirically the relationship between fiscal policy and the real effective exchange rate in emerging markets and draws policy implications. It reviews the current status of local capital...

Japan has a universal public pension system. Social security spending is a key fiscal policy challenge in Japan. The 2004 pension reforms have increased the ratio of the government subsidy to the basic pension benefit. Three reform measures are necessary to improve pension finances: an increase...

This Selected Issues paper for the Russian Federation discusses existing empirical efforts to measure the determinants of cross-country financial integration. Empirical studies that have adopted the gravity-model framework have found that it is generally successful in explaining bilateral...