In recent years, the IMF has released a growing number of reports and other documents covering economic and financial developments and trends in member countries. Each report, prepared by a staff team after discussions with government officials, is published at the option of the member country

KEY ISSUES Context. High oil prices and increased production have enabled the government to continue to record high fiscal and external surpluses and build strong buffers. Large infrastructure investments are expected to support the growth momentum. Outlook and risks. Overall real non-oil gross...

This Selected Issues paper estimates the optimal allocation of government current spending, precautionary saving, and investment for Kuwait under uncertainty. The results show that in the face of high oil income volatility and the expected decline in oil prices, projected current spending...

Macroeconomic conditions deteriorated in 2012. Growth slowed to 2.7 percent from 5 percent in 2011. Both the external and fiscal deficits widened significantly, to 10 percent and 7.6 percent of GDP, respectively. The 2012 fiscal outcome entailed a significant slippage from the authorities’...

The first paper is on the oil boom in Azerbaijan, which presents a unique opportunity to speed up the development agenda, but at the same time poses challenges to the management of macroeconomic policy. A new fiscal framework to sustain macroeconomic stability and achieve fiscal sustainability...

The article highlights the economic condition, fiscal policies, external stability, and financial growth strategy of The Bahamas. The economy of The Bahamas showed gradual growth of about 2.5 percent by 2012, but there were challenges for the country. The nation has to rebuild macroeconomic...

After recovering rapidly from the Great Recession, the Canadian economy has slowed down in 2012. Growth weakened in the first three quarters of 2012, and recent indicators have suggested that the pace of economic expansion remained subpar in the fourth quarter. The fiscal policy has continued to...

This Selected Issues paper analyzes energy price reform in Kuwait. It emphasizes that Kuwait should take advantage of current low global energy prices to strengthen efforts to reform domestic energy prices. In the longer term, this would benefit growth by increasing efficiency in the economy and...

This paper discusses Costa Rica's 2023 Article IV Consultation, Fifth Review under the Extended Arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), Second Review under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), and Request for Modification of Reform Measure. Costa Rica is reaping the...