The staff report for the 2005 Article IV Consultation on the People’s Republic of China highlights economic developments, policy discussions, and structural reforms. A larger external current account surplus, together with strong capital inflows, led to a further sizable increase in gross...

This paper focuses on Rwanda’s Fifth Review Under the Three-Year Arrangement Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) and Request for Waiver of Nonobservance of Performance Criteria. Macroeconomic performance of Rwanda remains broadly on track. Real growth in 2004 is...

This Financial System Stability Assessment paper for Ukraine reviews financial sector issues and highlights macroeconomic developments, vulnerabilities, and soundness of the financial system. It discusses creditors' rights, insolvency, and corporate governance, and Anti-Money Laundering and...

This technical note explores the reasons for a comparatively high interest rate spread in Kazakhstan in the context of competition in the banking sector. In spite of significant gains in efficiency made in recent years, operational costs and provisioning for loan losses remain high compared with...

This Technical Note examines the condition of the banking system for Pakistan. The number of commercial banks and various nonbank financial institutions in the country grew rapidly in the early 1990s. The privatization of state-owned banks has been accompanied by the liberalization in the...

This paper reviews Moldova’s Financial System Stability Assessment, including Reports on the Observance of Standards and Codes on Monetary and Financial Policy Transparency, and Banking Supervision. Compliance with the Basel Core Principles and the IMF Code of Good Practices on...

Recent economic developments: economic activity and prices; fiscal developments; monetary policy and developments; external sector developments. Eighth Five-Year Plan; background; objectives and strategy; key elements; and sectoral policies. Financial sector developments and reforms. Statistical...

German banks tend to be less profitable than their foreign counterparts. This paper estimates the likely effect of the phaseout of state guarantees for public sector banks, reviews the various ways in which public policy could contribute to their restructuring, and discusses the various...

The key policy challenge for Turkey in the years ahead will be to enhance and consolidate the advances made since the nation’s 2000-01 economic crisis. Higher growth could reduce unemployment and raise living standards toward European Union levels. This paper reviews Turkey’s...

This paper evaluates Azerbaijan’s 2003 Article IV Consultation, Second Review Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF), and Requests for Waivers of Performance Criteria, Extension of Arrangement and Rephasing of Purchases. Performance relative to the quantitative targets...