After five years of Paraguay’s high growth led, in part by agro-exporting sectors, the external environment has turned less favorable, with a sharp decline of export prices and a curtailment of external credit lines. The Selected Issues paper for Paraguay discusses economic development...

Nepal is a post-conflict state seeking to formalize democracy in a challenging environment. Significant headway toward a new state has been made since the 2006 peace accord. Progress on a range of technical issues (including public financial management, monetary policy, and financial sector...

This Selected Issues paper for the Republic of San Marino analyzes options for managing systemic liquidity risk. The paper states that financial dollarization/euroization—as in the case of San Marino—or a currency board arrangement can complicate banking crisis management and...

This staff report on United Kingdom’s (UK) 2013 Article IV Consultation highlights economic policies and development. The UK economy grew by about ¼ percent in 2012. Net trade reduced growth by 0.6 percentage points of GDP, the biggest drag since 2005, and well above staff projections....

Following the 2008/9 financial crisis and deep recession, a cyclical recovery took hold in Ukraine, supported by a stronger external environment. Efforts to consolidate public finances and repair the banking system began strengthening Ukraine’s resilience to external shocks. More...

The recent financial crises have underscored the need for the European Union (EU) to take a regional approach to financial stability. Preserving financial stability in such an environment requires a supranational oversight framework. Progress has been made toward stronger pan-European...

The Nigerian financial system underwent a banking crisis in 2008–09, owing to the global financial crisis and domestic events. The decisive crisis response effectively stabilized the banking system, but the challenge now is to devise a credible exit strategy. The Central Bank of Nigeria...

This paper focuses on the Islamic Republic of Mauritania’s Sixth Review Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) and a Request for Waiver of Performance Criterion. Performance under the PRGF-supported program remained strong in 2002. All the quantitative and structural...

The report provides the details of the Malta Financial Stability Assessment (MFSA). It defines its roles, responsibilities, and objectives for financial policies. It reviews the reports on the observance of standards and codes on monetary and financial policy transparency, banking supervision,...

This Selected Issues paper for Bulgaria highlights that the rapid credit expansion has not raised significant financial stability issues, but has been a key factor in the sharp weakening of the external current account. Although the deficit has been mostly financed by foreign direct investment...