Croatia’s economy is also saddled with more pervasive rigidities and higher government involvement than many of its transition peers. The Croatian National Bank (CNB) pursued proactive policies, which helped ensure financial sector stability. A stable nominal exchange rate provided an...

This 2013 Article IV Consultation highlights that in 2012, Thailand’s economy rebounded strongly from the devastating floods, with real GDP growing by 6.5 percent. Private consumption rose 6.7 percent, reflecting pent-up demand and government measures, including the rice pledging scheme,...

The Russian economy has improved after the recession, but recovery is fragile. Executive Directors appreciated the pre-crisis policy of taxing and saving oil revenues in a stabilization fund, which had created significant space for fiscal expansion, monetary easing, and extraordinary liquidity...

The paper discusses the stability of Brazil's financial system, which is diversified and shows sustained economic progress. Fiscal and monetary policies have been aimed to improve bank reserves, and foreign exchange intervention has been streamlined to curb volatility in the exchange market....

This paper reviews Poland’s economic performance under the Flexible Credit Line Arrangement. Economic growth in Poland is expected to slow in 2012, given the deteriorating outlook for the euro area. Risks are on the downside, mainly reflecting the possibility of spillovers from escalating...

The Netherlands has been heavily affected by the global financial crisis. The “Twin Peaks†supervision model, with Netherlands Central Bank - De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) as the prudential supervisor, and the Authority for Financial Markets (AFM) responsible for conduct-of-business...

This Selected Issues paper analyses the impact of a potential rebalancing of Icelandic residents’ investment portfolios as capital controls are lifted. It applies optimal portfolio theory to calculate the potential rebalancing toward foreign assets, and then makes an estimate of the...