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

The general government in Spain is composed of the State (central) government, the social security system, 17 regional governments, and a very large number of municipalities. Over the last several years, motivated in part by a desire to qualify for participation in Stage 3 of monetary union, the...

This Selected Issues paper analyzes Spain’s sustainable growth rate. It sheds some light on Spain’s medium-term growth prospects by looking into the key factors driving potential growth, both in the past and likely in the future, and international experience of countries in the aftermath of...

This Selected Issues paper analyzes the conduct of fiscal policy in Spain, made topical by the entry into effect of the Budgetary Stability Law in 2003. This law, along with the new permanent financing arrangements with the subnational levels of government, provides a new institutional and legal...

Spain has experienced income convergence consistently in the past decade, despite gradual losses in competitiveness. The empirical evidence indicates that overall EU enlargement offers a range of opportunities for Spain, points to potential pressures in specific sectors, and offers challenges,...

This Selected Issues paper contains two studies examining key issues for fiscal management and long-term fiscal sustainability in Spain. The first study discusses how best to ensure fiscal discipline at lower levels of government by examining the institutional setting and mechanisms that make...

This Selected Issues paper analyzes the sources of the persistence of geographical unemployment imbalances and low speed of adjustment to regional labor demand shocks in Spain. The paper argues that, under present labor market arrangements, these imbalances are unlikely to be corrected in the...

Rebalancing in Spain’s private sector is under way, but with more modest progress on reducing stocks. Spain is subject to significant spending pressures, reflecting unfavorable demographic trends and subdued growth prospects, and will require substantial structural reform. Priority reforms are...

An evaluation of observance of good transparency practices relating to banking supervisory and regulatory policy was carried out as part of the Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) against the IMF Code of Good Practices on Transparency in Monetary and Financial Policies. It also provides...

This Selected Issues paper quantifies the macroeconomic effects of fiscal policy in Spain, focusing on the external sector. It describes the stylized facts of the Spanish economy and presents an econometric analysis. It examines Spain’s growth and productivity performance in relation to a...