The staff report for the 2004 Article IV Consultation on France highlights economic performance and near-term outlook and policies. On structural issues, a health care reform has established the key instruments to gain control over the system’s budget. Ongoing civil service reform and...

Macroeconomic developments in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) region have been satisfactory, but risks to macroeconomic stability persist. The process of convergence remains slow and needs strengthening, notably through the adoption of a fiscal rule and the...

Nigeria’s 2002 Article IV Consultation highlights that major macroeconomic imbalances had emerged as a result of sharp increases in government spending and expressed concern at the risks of a further acceleration of inflation and continuing instability in the exchange market. The overall...

This paper on the Baltic countries analyzes medium-term fiscal issues related to European Union (EU) and NATO accession. The paper supports the Baltic authorities’ intention to aim at balancing their budgets over the economic cycle. The paper describes the Baltics’ current fiscal...

This 2004 Article IV Consultation highlights that real GDP growth in Nigeria accelerated in 2003 on account of sharply higher oil and gas production and continued robust growth in the non-oil economy. Owing to favorable terms-of-trade developments, the external current account deficit narrowed...

The cornerstone of Chile’s impressive fiscal performance and strong fiscal system has been its structural balance rule. It has helped to insulate public spending from copper price cycles and improve the government’s net financial position. Chile should adopt a full-fledged...

This Selected Issues paper focuses on the medium-term budgetary framework (MTBF) for Austria. Austria is part of a trend among many countries to consider some form of MTBF. This paper describes the proposed framework in Austria and assesses it in light of the experience of other countries. The...

This paper discusses a Request from Congo for a Three-Year Arrangement Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) program. Growth in Congo in 2008 was strong, but weakened by the onset of the global financial crisis during the second half of the year that resulted in a deterioration...

This 2005 Article IV Consultation highlights that Namibia recorded robust real GDP growth, falling inflation, a strong external current account surplus, and continued low external indebtedness over the last two years. Real GDP grew by 6 percent in 2004, as new marine technologies prompted a...

This Selected Issues paper on Australia highlights the IMF’s new Global Integrated Monetary and Fiscal Model (GIMF), which is used to examine the macroeconomic implications of alternative fiscal responses to higher revenue. Lower labor and capital income taxes, along with higher public...