The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia’s 2005 Article IV Consultation reports that domestic credit growth has accelerated, driven by strong demand from the government, public enterprises, and the private sector. High import content, particularly from public infrastructure...

The Indonesian economy proved resilient during the global financial crisis, and has since continued to grow at a robust rate. Increases in both foreign and domestic investment are expected to offset lower growth contributions from net exports as import demand rises. A key risk is deterioration...

This 2003 Article IV Consultation for Panama reports that the medium-term outlook is sound, assuming continued pursuit of prudent fiscal policies and growth-enhancing structural reforms. Sustained compliance with the fiscal responsibility law will require structural reforms, including...

This 2007 Article IV Consultation highlights that over the past three years, Syria has recovered from a half decade of weak growth, notwithstanding an unsettled regional environment and a sharp drop in oil production. The economic recovery has gained momentum, benefiting from inflows from Iraqi...

Iraq’s 2005 Article IV Consultation reports that there has been a marked deterioration in Iraq’s human development indicators over the last twenty years. There is relatively little firm data on the balance of payments other than on oil exports, government imports of goods and...

This report examines Sudan’s Final Review of the Staff-Monitored Program (SMP) for 2003 and 2004. Policy performance was in line with the program. All quantitative targets, except for that on contracting nonconcessional external debt, were met, and most structural benchmarks were...

This paper focuses on Uganda’s Fifth Review Under the Three-Year Arrangement Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF), Request for Waiver of Performance Criterion, and Extension of Arrangement. Performance relative to the program performance criteria and benchmarks has...

South Africa’s 2005 Article IV Consultation reports that the short-term outlook is broadly favorable, with the main risks arising from a possible worsening of the external environment. The authorities plan to maintain a flexible exchange rate, and to intervene in the foreign exchange...

This paper focuses on Ukraine’s 2005 Article IV Consultation and Ex Post Assessment of Longer-Term Program Engagement. After four years of strong activity, annual growth has slowed sharply, from a peak of about 12 percent in 2004 to 3 percent for January–September 2005. Fiscal...

This 2004 Article IV Consultation highlights that Namibia’s real GDP growth accelerated to an estimated 4¼ percent in 2004, after averaging about 3 percent during the preceding five years. Growth benefited from declining interest rates, as the Bank of Namibia took advantage of...