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...

This 2004 Article IV Consultation states that Hungary’s entry into the European Union comes on the heels of impressive accomplishments. Its successes were based on the long-lasting effects of significant structural reforms and privatization during the 1990s, which also facilitated...

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 2005 Article IV Consultation highlights that The Gambia’s economic performance since the mid-1980s has been uneven owing to exogenous shocks, macroeconomic and structural policy slippage, poor governance, and weak institutions. The economic performance has been constrained by policy...

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 highlights that the annual growth in Poland in 2004 reached 5½ percent, with a surge in growth in the run-up to European Union accession dissipating in the second half of 2004. Both domestic and net external demand contributed to the slowdown. Consumption and...

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...

This paper examines Uruguay’s Request for a Stand-By Arrangement. Although the external current account shifted to a moderate deficit, mainly reflecting the recovery in imports, export performance has been robust, and gross international reserves are now about three-fourths their...