From its early post-war catch-up phase, Germany’s formidable export engine has been its consistent driver of growth. But Germany has almost equally consistently run current account surpluses. Exports have powered the dynamic phases and helped emerge from stagnation. Volatile external...

This 2005 Article IV Consultation highlights that Belgium’s growth has picked up following weakness in early 2005, mainly reflecting a negative contribution from the external sector and weak household consumption owing to high energy prices. The authorities and the IMF staff project GDP...

This paper discusses Mali’s 2005 Article IV Consultation and Second and Third Reviews Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF). The PRGF-supported program is broadly on track. Performance on quantitative aspects remains strong. Although the record on the structural program...

The Chinese government has recently focused on the need to increase consumption to rebalance the economy. A widely held view is that despite China's remarkably high growth, the share of consumption in total expenditure has been low and declining due to high and rising saving rate of Chinese...

This paper reviews the Latin American experience with the implementation of 1993 SNAand the updating of the national accounts' base year. It also makes a preliminary assessment of the possible estimation biases in nominal GDP estimates stemming from the use of outdated national accounts base...

The paper provides estimates of global relative poverty trends from 1970 onwards. Relative poverty is shown to have decreased significantly, but at the same time there has been a worsening poverty outcome among up to one billion of the world's poorest citizens. The paper also proposes a...

How to entrench hard-won gains, increase resilience to shocks, and improve growth performance to reduce poverty? As Central America moves forward in regaining macroeconomic stability, these are the challenges. This study analyzes Central America’s real, fiscal, monetary, and financial...

The United Kingdom’s 2005 Article IV Consultation reports that macroeconomic performance has been strong and steady, owing in part to confidence-enhancing policy frameworks and generally sound implementation. The financial system is generally healthy, although a substantial increase in...

This paper focuses on the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) for the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe. The National Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper represents the result of analyses of the country’s current situation as well as a set of proposals designed to rout the...

The paper considers the issue of whether a supranational fiscal policy in Europe is needed, and, if so, what responsibilities it should undertake. The literature on endogenous growth and the principle of subsidiarity suggest that such a policy should be limited to externalities or economies of...