This paper examines Ukraine’s Request for a Stand-By Arrangement (SBA). The authorities have requested a 12-month SBA, which they intend to treat as precautionary. Their economic program for 2004 aims to sustain recent stabilization gains and advance some important structural reforms. Key...

Indonesia’s Fourth Post-Program Monitoring discussions highlight that short-term macroeconomic indicators and near-term prospects have deteriorated. Financial sector vulnerabilities have increased in the face of rising interest rates and a slowing economy, but the overall banking sector...

This paper examines the Republic of Lithuania’s 2001 Article IV Consultation and First Review Under the Stand-By Arrangement. The macroeconomic objectives for 2001 are expected to be largely attained and all end-September performance criteria and structural benchmarks were met. The...

The staff report for the Sixth Review Under the Three-Year Arrangement Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility on the Kyrgyz Republic highlights the economic developments and policies. To ensure that the external debt ratios fall, the program introduces a new indicative target for...

The global crisis left Albania fairly unscathed and ushered in the needed economic rebalancing. The policy framework has been challenged in the post-crisis environment significant headwinds. Despite improvement, external imbalances remain elevated. Fiscal consolidation in terms of a more...

This report reviews the Emergency Post-Conflict Assistance (EPCA) given to Lebanon after the conflict with Israel in 2006. The five-week conflict with Israel in 2006 and the month-long blockade that followed inflicted a heavy human and economic toll on Lebanon. EPCA would provide an appropriate...

The Rwandan economy continued to grow strongly in 2011, and significant progress in poverty reduction has been achieved. The Fourth Review Under the Policy Support Instrument (PSI) highlights that the fiscal framework for 2012/13 is in line with the main objectives of the PSI, and the...

Benin’s Fifth Review under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility and request for waiver of Nonobservance of Performance Criteria are discussed. The main challenge ahead is to limit inflation pressures from higher food and fuel prices while sustaining medium-term fiscal consolidation...

This 2009 Article IV Consultation highlights that the global economic crisis and collapse in copper prices in 2008 hit the Mongolian economy hard. The loose macropolicies and tightly managed exchange rate pursued during the preceding boom years had made the economy particularly vulnerable, and...

In 2008–09, economic activity in Burkina Faso was negatively affected by the increase in global food and fuel prices, the global economic and financial crisis, and heavy flooding in Ouagadougou in September 2009. These shocks are estimated to have contributed to a deterioration in poverty...