Jamaica was hit hard by the pandemic. An early lockdown in the Spring of 2020 helped contain the number of Covid-19 cases but the impact on the economy was severe, with real GDP shrinking by 10 percent. To counter the social and economic effects of the pandemic, the government temporarily...

A swift policy response helped mitigate the economic impact of the twin COVID-19 and oil price shocks and contain the initial spread of the virus. A gradual recovery driven by the non-oil sector is underway, following a deep recession in 2020. Fiscal and external balances have improved with...

The purpose of the mission was to assist the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat) with continuing its modernization of the Consumer Price Index (CPI). This was the first technical assistance (TA) mission to Georgia to specifically focus on scanner data (SD). Two earlier missions on...

Exchange rate analysis lies at the center of the IMF's surveillance mandate and policy advice, as well as in the design of IMF-supported programs, and IMF staff are called upon to analyze a variety of exchange rate issues in various member countries, both small and large, from the least...

The macroeconomic effects of scaling up aid -- Managing the real exchange rate -- Using monetary policy for sterilization and inflation management -- Mobilizing adequate domestic revenues -- Projecting the impact of increased aid on economic growth -- Meeting other fiscal challenges --...