Anglophone African countries have been implementing reform and modernization initiatives in their Customs administrations. This paper outlines the progression of key reform and modernization initiatives in these countries since the early 1990s, and assesses the gap between these reforms and...

Macroeconomic imbalances are large, and structural problems are deep-rooted in Portugal. The new government’s strong commitment to program implementation is encouraging. Fiscal performance so far demonstrates the need to refocus the fiscal strategy on strong expenditure control, as...

Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world and, after decades of ongoing conflicts and strife, it is still at an early stage of developing its legal and institutional framework. Measures have been taken to fight crime, including financial crime. Smuggling and fraud are other major...

El Salvador has made major strides on several fronts since the peace accords of 1992. The near-term outlook has strengthened, although challenges remain. The authorities are intended to limit tax exemptions and subsidies, and raise priority of banking reforms this year. Discussions focused on...

This paper presents Detailed Assessment of the United States’s implementation of the International Organization of Securities Commissions’ Objectives and Principles of Securities Regulation. The general preconditions for effective securities regulation in the United States are...

This report assesses the design, implementation, and effectiveness of Liberia’s first Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS). The PRS described the objectives for each pillar and sector, often with numerical projections, and these were essentially the intended outcomes. The Economic Corridors...

This Selected Issues paper for Nicaragua reports that the Central America–Dominican Republic-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) provides a general framework for country-specific bilateral agreements. In addition to the phased liberalization of trade in goods, CAFTA-DR provides...

This paper discusses key findings of the Detailed Assessments of the Observance of Standards and Codes for Banking Supervision, Insurance Supervision, and Securities Regulation for Panama. The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) assessment considered the securities...

This assessment reviews the regulatory framework in place for the oversight of the capital markets of the Russian Federation as of June 2011. The Russian securities markets, in particular, have been volatile, reflecting the inflow and outflow of money and the crisis. Foreign investment banks...

This Selected Issues paper assesses The Gambia’s external competitiveness by reviewing developments in several indicators, ranging from exchange rate-based indices to survey-based assessments of the investment climate. The paper reviews the evolution of several multilateral and bilateral...