This technical assistant report on South Africa focuses on monetary and financial statistics (duty station-based) mission. The mission developed bridge tables from the source data of money market funds (MMFs), the Land Bank, and Ithala SOC to 2SR. The mission estimated that reclassifying the...

In 2003, Guinea's macroeconomic management deteriorated significantly, and the prospects for 2003 are uncertain at best. Performance under the 2002–03 poverty reduction and growth facility (PRGF)-supported program is weak. The main challenge is to promote and sustain the strong private...

This paper discusses the Staff-Monitored Program (SMP) for Guinea. Agreement in principle was reached on the SMP from April 2005 to March 2006. The program would support the authorities’ efforts in restoring macroeconomic stability and establish a track record of policy implementation to...

Honduras’s Third Review under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility and Request for Waiver and Modification of Performance Criteria are discussed. The current stance of monetary and exchange rate policies are broadly appropriate, and financial sector reforms are proceeding. Progress...

This paper assesses the First Review Under the Staff-Monitored Program (SMP) for Afghanistan. The authorities have met all of the indicative quantitative targets set out under the SMP and all the structural benchmarks, except the benchmark on licensing of commercial banks, which was only partly...

This paper discusses Ex Post Assessment of Longer-Term Program Engagement for the Republic of Tajikistan. The assessment reveals that Tajikistan’s macroeconomic performance during 1998–2005 has been robust, albeit with occasional lapses. Economic growth during this period has far...

This Selected Issues paper and Statistical Appendix reviews the past conduct of monetary policy of Tonga. The paper considers the problems in the current system and discusses the policy options available to the authorities. It reviews Tonga’s exchange rate policy and explores its...

Iceland’s 2005 Article IV Consultation reports that new projects have rekindled rapid growth and the economy is exhibiting signs of overheating, with imbalances evident in inflation, the current account, and external debt. GDP grew at an average rate of 3.8 percent between 1995 and 2004,...

This 2004 Article IV Consultation highlights that during the first four years of the Third Five-Year Development Plan (2000/01–2003/04), Iran’s real GDP grew by 5.6 percent on average. The external current account was in surplus, external debt was reduced to a very low level,...

Chile has successfully resisted contagion from neighboring countries difficulties. Chile's inflation targeting framework has successfully anchored inflation expectations and increased the economy's resilience to external shocks while maintaining price stability. The floating exchange rate regime...