This 2008 Article IV Consultation highlights that Lao People’s Democratic Republic’s (PDR) economy has performed well in recent years, owing to generally stable macroeconomic conditions and a rapidly expanding natural resource sector. Real GDP growth has averaged more than 7 percent since...

This Selected Issues paper and Statistical Appendix for the Lao People’s Democratic Republic underlies debt sustainability analysis. Sensitivity analysis reveals that if the pace of economic reforms falters, the debt burden—high even in the baseline case—could become unsustainable. The low...

The staff report for the 2004 Article IV Consultation on Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) highlights economic developments and policies. Lao PDR’s recent macroeconomic performance has been relatively encouraging. Although some headway has been made in reforming the state banks and...

This paper focuses on Second Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper for Lao People’s Democratic Republic. The economic sectors have undergone significant restructuring. This restructuring has been concentrated on production capacities, quality and efficiency, thus contributing to economic growth and...

Recent economic development and outlook of Lao are discussed in this study. However, the economy continued to exceed its macroeconomic speed limit in 2009, putting pressure on the balance of payments. The outlook for GDP growth in 2010 is favorable and inflation is likely to remain moderate....

Progress in fiscal reforms, especially with regard to revenue mobilization, will require a broader reform of center-province fiscal relations in Lao People’s Democratic Republic. There are challenges ahead to restructure the state-owned commercial banks (SCB) and strengthen the banking system....