KEY ISSUES Context. Growth remains strong driven by robust exports, tourism, and construction, despite the recent floods and some slowdown during the 2013 national election. The outlook is favorable with renewed reform momentum after the elections but slow growth in Europe, the U.S. tapering,...

KEY ISSUES Economic context. Growth was strong in 2012, and the economy is overheating from expansionary macroeconomic policies. The current account deficit has deteriorated significantly, a product of a currency appreciation in real effective terms, a growing fiscal deficit, and strong domestic...

KEY ISSUES Context: Growth in recent decades has been sluggish owing to persistent political turmoil, external shocks, and slow progress on structural reforms. Unemployment at nearly 9 percent continues to be stubbornly high, with youth and underemployment at significantly higher rates. The...

KEY ISSUES Context: A slowdown in growth in major emerging market economies (EMEs) and decline in commodity prices, and more recently, a reversal in push factors tied to a prospective exit from extraordinarily easy global monetary conditions, has put pressure on Indonesia’s balance of payments...

KEY ISSUES Context. After a decade of strong growth, Papua New Guinea (PNG) now faces a sharp slowdown in the nonmineral sector as construction winds down on a large liquefied natural gas (LNG) project. LNG revenue increases are expected to be modest and oneoff over the near to medium term,...

KEY ISSUES Context. Growth recovered and inflation declined sharply in 2013. Leverage has risen, with real estate a major beneficiary, but providing only a muted growth impulse. Intensive use of macroprudential measures recently stabilized house prices, which had grown rapidly. The financial...

The Korean economy is slowing in the face of strong global headwinds. It is projected to bottom out during the course of 2012, regaining momentum towards the end of the year, in line with the global recovery. The main short-term risk to the outlook is a further intensification of the euro area...

Against the backdrop of generally sound policies and abundant natural resources, Lao P.D.R. has made impressive progress in developing its economy and reducing poverty. The key challenge going forward is to ensure that economic policy frameworks stay ahead of the curve to achieve sustainable and...

KEY ISSUES Context. The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) is going through a period of output fluctuations. The economy expanded in FY2012 by 3.2 percent, supported by export growth, but in FY2013 is estimated to have slowed to 0.8 percent due to the postponement of infrastructure projects....