The rapid spread of the virus in Cambodia during 2021 has set the economy back again, after external demand collapsed in 2020. The authorities responded to the crisis with measures to support households and firms, including increased healthcare spending; a new system of cash transfers to...

Fiji has been among the hardest hit by the pandemic-with infection rates at one point among the highest in the world. Despite swift action by the government to close borders, protect the population, and mitigate the worst economic effects, the economic contraction was the worst in Fiji's...

The Dutch economy was more resilient than the average Euro area economy in 2020 owing in part to a high rate of digitalization of activities that allowed a large share of the work force to work remotely, while the strong policy response mitigated the impact of containment measures. A strong...

Burundi is a fragile state with a history of political tensions and weak institutions. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Burundi was recovering from an economic recession triggered by the 2015 political crisis stemming from the late President Nkurunziza's decision to run for a third term. Real GDP...

This technical assistance (TA) report on government finance statistics (GFS) covers the remote TA to the Ministry of Finance (MOF) during September 21-October 2 and December 14-18, 2020 and March 9-13 and April 19-23, 2021 (which was extended to May 2021). These peripatetic activities were...

The COVID-19 pandemic and related containment measures have put severe strains on the economy. The economic policy response has been strong and generally appropriate, helping counter the negative effects of the pandemic. Nevertheless, as the international borders remain shut, the economic...

Comoros is a small, fragile island state (population: 850,000) with persistently low and shock-prone growth. The last Article IV Consultation (completed in early 2020) assessed Comoros' fragility as arising from two vicious circles: economic fragility manifests in low fiscal revenue,...

St. Kitts and Nevis entered the Covid-19 pandemic from a position of fiscal strength following nearly a decade of budget surpluses. A significant part of the large CBI revenues was prudently saved, reducing public debt below the regional debt target of 60 percent of GDP and supporting...