The insurance sector is underdeveloped and has been inadequately supervised to date, as the regulator lacks the requisite independence, skills, and resources. The three public pension systems, which cover less than 10 percent of the active population, appear to be fiscally unsustainable. The...

The main vulnerabilities in the financial sector can be found in the banking system and the social security fund (SSNIT). The Ghanaian financial sector is also confronted by a large number of development challenges. The factual updates of Ghana’s observance of the three international...

This paper examines Mozambique’s Request for a New Three-Year Arrangement Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility. Mozambique’s performance under the authorities’ program continues to be generally satisfactory. Real GDP growth remained strong in 2003, real interest...

This Selected Issues paper for Suriname describes the structure of the financial system, and provides a preliminary assessment of the conditions of the banking system. It highlights the need for a comprehensive public sector reform, targeting both the civil service and the public enterprises,...

This paper reviews trends in bank lending to the private sector, with a particular focus on Central and Eastern European countries, and finds that rapid growth of private sector credit continues to be a key challenge for most of these countries. The paper discusses possible implications for...

Good progress has been made in stabilizing the economic and social situation since the crisis. Fiscal adjustment over a prolonged period will bring the public finances to a sustainable path. To protect social expenditures and allow higher public investment, a comprehensive tax reform is...

This paper proposes a framework to check for consistency between the IMF's standard country surveillance tool, namely medium-term projections of the macroeconomic framework (including the real, fiscal, external, and monetary sectors), and the financial sector. Consistency here entails that the...

Interactions between banks and open capital account are investigated as rationalizations for empirical regularities characterizing disinflation programs anchored by the exchange rate. The financial system is characterized by bank dominance and lending externality – banks do not internalize the...

This Selected Issues paper and Statistical Appendix presents five essays examining issues in the United Arab Emirates related to the financial sector, long-term fiscal trends, fiscal sustainability, the competitiveness of the non-oil economy, and the labor market, as well as estimates of the...

This paper analyzes Rwanda’s Financial System Stability Assessment, including Reports on the Observance of Standards and Codes on Monetary and Financial Policy Transparency, Banking Supervision, and the Financial Action Task Force Recommendations for Anti-Money Laundering and Combating...