Belgium has effected a remarkable fiscal adjustment, best illustrated by the decline in its public debt. While benefiting from an appreciable decline in interest rates, most of the underlying consolidation reflected a considerable increase in the tax burden, one of the highest in the...

This paper analyzes the impact of product and labor market policies on technological diffusion and multi-factor productivity (MFP) in a panel of industries in 15 OECD countries over the period 1980 to 2003, with a special focus on Australia. We use a simple convergence empirical framework to...

This Selected Issues paper reviews the extent to which growth in Ethiopia has translated into higher living standards. A key feature of the economic strategy has been an explicit commitment to poverty reduction and structural transformation. This is underpinned by the vision of a...

This Selected Issues paper discusses the need to meet Algeria’s fiscal challenges. Although Algeria enjoys substantial fiscal savings, fiscal policy is currently on an unsustainable path. Under current projections, Algeria will deplete its financial savings in the long term, leaving...

This paper on Senegal’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper discusses the economic, social, and environmental performance of policies, the political and institutional environment, and the constraints weighing on its growth as well as the challenges to be addressed. The shortage of basic...

KEY ISSUES Context. Cameroon’s macroeconomic outlook and risks have deteriorated slightly since the Article IV consultation in 2013. Economic activity has remained strong and inflation subdued, but the fiscal position has worsened; public debt has been rising at a less sustainable pace;...

This Selected Issues paper analyzes the housing prices, consumption, and the household debt overhang in the Netherlands. Deflated housing prices that were fueled by robust borrowing often leave in their wake households with heavy debt burden. This “debt overhang†forces households into...

This paper discusses Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Third Review Under the Stand-By Arrangement and Request for Waiver of Applicability of a Performance Criterion. Financial sector indicators through end-March 2013 suggest that the banking system remains profitable and adequately capitalized at...

This report examines the experiences of four European countries that have had large house-price declines in recent years. In particular, it examines the experiences of Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Spain—four countries in which the house-price cycle has been especially large and...