This paper seeks to draw lessons from the IMF’s experience in handling financial crises around the globe over the past ten years that are relevant to the challenges faced by countries in Latin America, especially in the wake of the recent crisis in Argentina. Experience suggests that...

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...

Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) showed commendable growth owing to its strong macroeconomic performance and structural reforms under the economic program. Executive Directors commended the fiscal performance, bank restructuring, and the private sector developments, and stressed the...

The ending of the civil war has brought to the fore the need to reconstruct the Angolan economy and address the problem of widespread poverty. A strong medium-term fiscal adjustment effort, including a reduction of the National Bank of Angola's operational deficit, is needed. The government...

This paper presents background issues and a statistical update on Chad. The paper highlights that by mid-1994, it became evident that major slippages had taken place under the economic adjustment program adopted by the authorities earlier in the year. As a result, the authorities examined the...

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...

This paper-consisting of a regional study and seven country studies-reviews the state of domestic public debt markets in Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama as at end-2005. Although they account for the lion's share of capital markets, regional...

This paper reviews trends in capital flows and capital-like flows such as official grants and remittances to low-income countries over the period 1981-2006. The survey reveals a broadbased increase in such flows as a share of low-income country GDP across major regions, countries with differing...

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...

The staff report for the First Review Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) Arrangement highlights Grenada’s economic performance in many respects. The time needed to address the unregulated bank, as well as fiscal slippages and the slow pace of structural reform, delayed...