This Selected Issues paper presents an assessment of leveraging oil wealth for development in Kazakhstan. By saving most of the tax revenues collected from the oil sector in an off-budget oil fund Kazakhstan has been relatively successful in ensuring that government revenue volatility does not...

Timor-Leste weathered the global financial crisis well and experienced healthy economic growth rates. It has made solid progress in strengthening the public financial management systems. The budget document provides comprehensive information; fiscal transparency is high. The Ministry of Finance...

This Selected Issues paper analyzes medium-term fiscal sustainability in Trinidad and Tobago. The paper focuses on the challenge of distributing the nonrenewable resource wealth across generations. Its recommendations are geared toward the goal of intergenerational distribution and therefore...

Gabon continues to enjoy record high oil prices, buoying both exports and government revenues. The critical medium-term challenge facing Gabon is managing the transition from an economy highly dependent on oil to a diversified economy that harnesses private sector initiative, and makes decisive...

The paper discusses the estimates and projections of Brunei Darussalam's nominal GDP and quarterly nominal GDP as per economic activity; growth in real GDP by expenditure and economic activity; details of oil and gas production and sales; composition of government revenue, expenditure, and...

This Selected Issues paper on the Republic of Congo analyzes the challenges of sustainable growth in the Republic of Congo. The paper highlights that it is paramount for the authorities to avoid repeating the experience of the 1980s, particularly in light of the projected decline in oil...

The 2007 Article IV Consultation on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) examines the near- and medium-term outlook, inflation, and fiscal policy. The rapid expansion is supported by an outward-oriented development strategy and sustained high oil prices. Reforms are under way to strengthen the...

This 2007 Article IV Consultation highlights that Iraq’s economic growth has been slower than expected at the time of the last Article IV Consultation, mainly because the expected expansion of oil production has not materialized. Following a decline in oil production and real GDP in 2005,...

Mauritania was one of the countries to reach the completion point under the enhanced Initiative for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries. The revised fiscal, balance of payments, and monetary data, including data on commercial banks, revealed that the main program parameters were missed by large...

In recent years, the IMF has released a growing number of reports and other documents covering economic and financial developments and trends in member countries. Each report, prepared by a staff team after discussions with government officials, is published at the option of the member country.