The pandemic dealt a severe blow to the Italian people and their economy. GDP fell by nearly 9 percent in 2020, with much larger drops for contact-intensive services. Public and corporate debt increased strongly and preexisting vulnerabilities have likely worsened. The government is prioritizing...

This Technical Note discusses the findings and recommendations made in the Financial Sector Assessment Program for the Russian Federation in the areas of bank resolution and a crisis management framework. The findings reveal that the experiences of past financial crises have strengthened the...

This Selected Issues paper focuses on the potential to improve government efficiency and reduce opportunities for corruption in Russia by further improving fiscal transparency. The analysis presented here is in the context of the 2018 Framework for Enhanced IMF Engagement in Governance, which...

This Selected Issues paper focuses on the Russian state's footprint in the economy. Available cross-country employment data suggests that the Russian state's is relatively large, like that of Scandinavian countries. In sectors where the state's share is high, economic concentration is larger,...

This paper summarizes recent developments in the relationships between the IMF, member countries, and commercial banks, with specific reference to five European countries. The paper also highlights that Better assessment of trends in the market and of the attitude of commercial banks toward...