The staff report for the 2004 Article IV Consultation on Jordan highlights economic developments and policies. General sales tax collections increased strongly boosted by high import growth and improved revenue administration. The government has embarked on a substantial improvement of the...

This Selected Issues paper and Statistical Appendix for the Lao People’s Democratic Republic underlies debt sustainability analysis. Sensitivity analysis reveals that if the pace of economic reforms falters, the debt burden—high even in the baseline case—could become...

This paper discusses key findings of the Fourth Review Under the Stand-By Arrangement and Review of Financing Assurances for Gabon. Rising non-oil revenue and continued expenditure control contributed to maintaining fiscal discipline, and all quantitative performance criteria for end-March 2005...

This paper examines Tajikistan’s 2004 Article IV Consultation and Fourth Review Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility. Strengthened fiscal discipline and tighter monetary policy have reduced inflation from 40 percent in 2001 to 5.6 percent in 2004. Strong growth in tax revenues...

Since the last Article IV Consultation, the Sri Lankan economy has advanced on several fronts. However, the economic effects of the two-decade long civil conflict are yet to be overcome, and many challenges remain. Recently, heightened political uncertainty has constrained the...

This paper examines Tanzania’s 2002 Article IV Consultation, Fifth Review Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) and a Request for an Extension of the Arrangement and Waiver of Performance Criterion. Tanzania’s performance under the PRGF-supported program has been...

This 2005 Article IV Consultation highlights that Mongolia’s overall economic performance was stronger than expected and broad based in 2004 and early 2005. Sectoral contributions to high growth included a rebound in the livestock sector from harsh winter shocks of 2000–01 and...

Kenya showed poor implementation of policies and weak economic performance under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) arrangement. The government formulated a new Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation (ERSWEC) aimed to address major macroeconomic...

This 2005 Article IV Consultation for Vietnam reports that high credit growth in the context of weak bank balance sheets remains a cause for concern. The overall fiscal deficit narrowed from 7.2 percent of GDP in 2003 to 4½ percent of GDP in 2004, but a growing program of off-budget...

Macedonia's macroeconomic stabilization program continues to rest on the basis of fiscal and monetary policies, and has restored the fiscal balance to a sustainable level after two years of high deficits. Further structural measures are important to address impediments to growth and to reduce...