The paper reviews the “stylized facts” on economic growth gathered by Easterly and Levine in their 2001 joint paper and illustrates some of the points made on the basis of data from the IMF’s World Economic Outlook on real growth and per capita GDP since 1970. The data show that the growth...

This Selected Issues paper for Algeria analyzes the potential economic impact of Algeria’s Association Agreement with the European Union (AAEU). The paper lays out the major elements of Algeria’s AAEU and makes a comparison with other AAEUs. It discusses the potential economic...

This Selected Issues paper on the Republic of Madagascar reports on the several key themes associated with longer-term development issues in Madagascar. As one of the poorest countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar suffers from low levels of social indicators across all fronts including...

Croatia’s economic vulnerability is discussed in this study. Using the balance sheet approach (BSA), this paper analyzes Croatia’s overall and sectoral vulnerabilities. Croatia’s financial sector balance sheet is exposed to liquidity, contagion, and currency risks. With...

This report discusses major developments in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR), and updates the statistical tables on recent economic developments and provides an overview of the real sector. Factors that have limited revenue collections and developments in the monetary and...