This Joint Staff Advisory Note (JSAN) reviews Togo's Interim-Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (I-PRSP), which is aimed to strengthen political and economic governance, support economic recovery, and reduce poverty. The I-PRSP recognizes challenges to achieve the MDGs and the risks to its...

This paper explores the causes of India's productivity surge around 1980, more than a decade before serious economic reforms were initiated. Trade liberalization, expansionary demand, a favorable external environment, and improved agricultural performance did not play a role. We find evidence...

Natural disaster risk is emerging as an increasingly important constraint on economic development and poverty reduction. This paper first sets out the key stylized facts in the area-that the costs of disaster have been increasing, seem set to continue to increase, and bear especially heavily on...

This paper investigates the relationship between unrecorded economic activity associated with the production of illicit coca and formally recorded economic activity in Peru. It does so by attempting to construct new regional level estimates for coca production and by implementing recently...

The current round of multilateral trade negotiations-the Doha Round-presents an opportunity for countries to reap the benefits of trade liberalization. Unfortunately, a number of misconceptions about the likely impact of trade reforms has, in part, impeded more rapid progress toward completion...

The January 2010 earthquake represented a major setback for Haiti, after several years of improved economic performance. Executive Directors commended the authorities for quickly restoring basic government functions and maintaining sound policies during the crisis. Directors welcomed the...

The fiscal impact of these policies will be significant, but donor support, improved revenue, and budget reallocations will contain domestic financing. The authorities have introduced several policies in response to the disasters. IMF staff supports the authorities’ request for a purchase...

The report discusses the IMF staff's estimates and projections of the Central African Republic's Central Government Operations, 2002–06; summary of tax systems, 2007; export import indices and terms of trade 2002–06; balance of payments, 2002–06; monetary survey, 2002–06;...

A major element of the persistent fiscal imbalances in Guinea-Bissau is the relatively low level of revenue compared with other sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. Fiscal revenues, including grants, trended downward significantly in Guinea-Bissau from 1991 through 2005, especially during the...

The Executive Board of the IMF has approved a disbursement of an amount equivalent to SDR 2.075 million under the Rapid Credit Facility for St. Vincent and the Grenadines to help the country manage the economic impact of Hurricane Tomas. The Board’s approval enables the immediate...