This Selected Issues paper for Ireland highlights that fiscal consolidation resulted in a tremendous reduction in public debt from nearly 100 percent of GDP in 1991 to about 30 percent in 2004. This has reflected a combination of policy decisions and economic circumstances. Excluding 2001, when...

This Selected Issues paper and Statistical Appendix examines the relationship between investment and long-term growth in Fiji. It reviews Fijian data, and indicates that the slowdown in the growth rate since independence has been associated with a decline in investment, particularly by the...

This Selected Issues paper and Statistical Appendix reviews Mozambique’s impressive economic growth, its composition, and its impact on poverty reduction over the past decade. The paper highlights that improvements in total factor productivity, resulting from a stable macroeconomic...

This paper presents key findings of debt sustainability analysis (DSA) for Ethiopia. The stress tests reveal that Ethiopia’s external debt and debt service indicators are particularly sensitive to the terms of new borrowing and negative export shocks. The baseline projections appear...

This 2004 Article IV Consultation highlights that economic growth in Cyprus has begun to rebound following a more modest performance in 2002–03, recovering in real terms to about 3½ percent in 2004, mainly driven by an increase in domestic demand. Real per capita income has continued...

This Selected Issues paper and Statistical Appendix for Netherlands Antilles examines the economic growth in Small Island Economies. The paper finds that the Small Island Economies as a group grew faster than the rest of the world during 1960–85. The paper analyzes whether Small Island...

This Selected Issues paper on Sri Lanka reviews several issues that highlight both Sri Lanka’s accomplishments and their policy constraints amidst a protracted period of civil conflict and political instability. High intermediation costs have held back development of the financial sector...

This Selected Issues paper for Cambodia explores the implications for long-term sustainable growth from cross-country analysis of the sources of growth. Cambodia’s low labor productivity, inadequate and expensive infrastructure, and a cumbersome regulatory environment do not bode well for...

This Selected Issues paper and Statistical Appendix analyzes sources of economic growth in Benin. It concludes that the policies implemented since the early 1990s paved the way for higher growth rate by raising total factor productivity as well as capital accumulation. The paper examines the...

This report analyzes the Comprehensive Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy (CPRGS), the poverty reduction strategy paper of Vietnam. It evaluates the CPRGS in the international context and the national situation, economic growth in individual sectors, and social achievements in poverty...