There can be no question that regional and bilateral free trade agreements (FTA) are becoming increasingly important in the global international trade regime. While multilateral trade negotiations under the World Trade Organization (WTO) are inherently difficult because of the need to achieve...

This paper reviews economic developments in Lithuania during 1993–96. Economic growth resumed in 1994 and gained further momentum in 1995; real GDP increased by an estimated 3 percent in 1995. Growth in 1995 was driven by the industrial sector, while agriculture performed poorly. The...

This paper summarizes the macroeconomic performance of the transition economies. We first review the initial conditions confronting these economies, the reform strategy that was proposed, and the associated controversies that arose a decade ago. We then account for the widely different outcomes,...

Do growth spells in Africa end because of bad realizations of the same factors that influence growth spells in the rest of the world, or because of different factors altogether? To answer this question, we examine determinants of growth spells in Africa and the rest of the world using Bayesian...

The demand pressures associated with the large terms-of-trade gains are reflected in a fast real appreciation of the ruble, although more of this has come through nominal appreciation during the last year. The risks to the outlook are evenly balanced and depend mostly on oil price developments....

This 2008 Article IV Consultation highlights that South Africa’s economic performance has strengthened in the last several years, with real GDP growing by 5–5½ percent in 2005–07, inflation declining to mid-single digits until recently, and employment growing steadily....

This note raises the IMF’s profile on a number of issues related to inequality, unemployment, governance, etc. It builds on earlier empirical work that examined correlations between growth downbreaks/duration of growth spells and a range of macro/policy/institutional factors. This paper is...