The Solomon Islands’s 2005 Article IV Consultation reports that the improvement in the economic performance registered after the arrival of the Australian-led intervention force in mid-2003 has continued. The projected deterioration in the external current account reflects...

This paper presents Nigeria’s Request for a Two-Year Policy Support Instrument to support its reform efforts. All three tiers of government have adhered to a conservative oil price-based fiscal rule, resulting in large overall budget surpluses and a significant buildup of international...

The Fourth Review Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility and Requests for Waiver of Nonobservance of Performance Criteria for Rwanda are analyzed. The implementation of policies improved considerably in 2004, although economic performance has been adversely affected by exogenous shocks....

This 2005 Article IV Consultation highlights that real GDP growth in Grenada, on average, has been low over the last five years compared with growth of nearly 6 percent a year in the late-1990s. Inflation has remained low and stable within the framework of the currency board arrangement. The...

This paper discusses key findings of the Sixth Review Under the Extended Arrangement Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) for Albania. The macroeconomic performance of the Albanian economy has been good overall, with sustained growth and low inflation. Weak infrastructure and...

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s 2005 Article IV Consultation reports that inflation has stabilized at industrial country rates, anchored by the currency board. About half of activity is accounted for by the private sector and banks have been almost completely privatized to nonresidents. The...

This Selected Issues paper and Statistical Appendix presents a debt sustainability analysis for Afghanistan. The analysis is based on a simple spreadsheet model that calculates indicators of sustainability in terms of ratios of the net present value (NPV) of debt and debt service to relevant...

This paper discusses Iraq’s request for Stand-By Arrangement for 15 months from December 2005 through March 2007, which they intend to treat as precautionary. The authorities’ policies have succeeded in promoting overall macroeconomic stability despite the extremely difficult...

This Selected Issues paper for the Solomon Islands reviews budget trends in the past decade and assesses medium-term budget prospects. Aid flows and revenue from import tariffs and logging are projected to decline. Spending pressures are likely to pick up considerably, owing to the need to...

St. Vincent and the Grenadines’s 2003 Article IV Consultation reports that it had moderate levels of public sector debt and debt service during the 1990s. To reduce growth volatility, since the mid-1990s, the government has attempted to implement an economic diversification program...