Although Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has experienced rapid growth in credit to households in recent years, most individuals are still credit constrained. This paper analyzes the determinants of household credit demand and credit constraints in BiH. To our knowledge, it is the first study on...

The paper explores the extent to which the pressure of debt service on other spending items may push governments to embark on fiscal consolidation beyond what is strictly necessary to secure solvency. The empirical analysis identifies thresholds of interest bill indicators beyond which...

This report reviews the Emergency Post-Conflict Assistance (EPCA) given to Lebanon after the conflict with Israel in 2006. The five-week conflict with Israel in 2006 and the month-long blockade that followed inflicted a heavy human and economic toll on Lebanon. EPCA would provide an appropriate...

This 2006 Article IV Consultation highlights that economic activity in Cyprus has recovered from a relatively weak performance in 2002–03. Declines in interest rates and strong capital inflows associated with Cyprus’s accession to the European Union in May 2004 spurred growth in...

The principal policy task in Hungary is to place public finances on a sound footing. For monetary policy, the challenge is to identify one-off inflationary influences, communicate these to the public and financial markets, and deal with second-round effects. From a risk-management perspective, a...

This 2006 Article IV Consultation highlights that the Jordanian economy has performed remarkably well in recent years, mainly owing to far-reaching macroeconomic and structural reforms. Despite negative shocks, growth has been robust, inflation has remained low, public debt has continued to...

This Selected Issues paper on Samoa reviews limitations to the existing framework of monetary policy, and suggests ways to improve its effectiveness. It examines current instruments at the disposal of the central bank to conduct monetary policy, before showing why monetary policy execution can...

The Israeli economy is performing exceptionally well, but still high public indebtedness calls for the continuation of strong economic policies. Monetary policy has successfully stabilized inflation expectations, but policy and communication challenges remain. The recent positive fiscal...

Japan’s position is one of the largest and richest economies in the world. Tokyo as a financial marketplace is not a major intermediator of global capital flows. The current macroeconomic environment is conducive to spillovers being larger than captured by the empirical analysis. Apart...

This paper discusses key findings of the Financial System Stability Assessment on the Basel Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision, the Committee for Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS) Core Principles for Systemically Important Payment Systems, and IMF Monetary and Financial Policy...