This 2004 Article IV Consultation for Panama reports that the medium-term outlook is encouraging, assuming implementation of the authorities’ fiscal program, which should put the public debt ratio on a steadily declining path. The banking system experienced a substantial recovery in 2003–04,...

Macroeconomic policy support and structural reforms have helped to bring about the economic recovery in Japan. Initiating a public process to obtain consensus on a credible strategy for eventual fiscal consolidation would help to raise confidence in long-term growth prospects and reduce the...

Israel is on the threshold of a marked improvement in economic performance. Passage of a revised Bank of Israel law along the lines recommended by the Levin Commission and endorsed by the Bank of Israel should be achieved as soon as possible. Continued vigilance regarding real exchange rate...

Norway showed exemplary economic performance over the past decade, as reflected in the strong economic growth and low inflation. Executive Directors commended this development, and stressed the need to maintain monetary and fiscal stances, improve efficiency, and corporate governance. They...

Barbados’s 2008 Article IV Consultation is focused on policies to balance the conflicting risks to inflation, growth, and medium-term sustainability. Although the government has maintained some policy space by postponing the liberalization of the capital account, its options are constrained by...

Ireland continues to achieve spectacular economic growth. Strains associated with the rapid growth have become more visible. Fiscal policy should be tightened to restrain excess demand pressures. Strict adherence to the agreed wage increases under the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness (PPF)...

The Guinean government faced economic management problems. The government revised its budget and adopted fiscal and monetary targets aimed at stopping monetary expansion by scaling back and controlling expenditure to meet revenue. Repayment of government debt to the central bank will increase...

This paper provides a brief and selective overview of research on the links between macroeconomic policies and poverty reduction. Using the Human Development Index as a measure of well-being, the progress made by 100 countries during 1975–98 is presented, and its association with macroeconomic...

The paper investigates the existence of ""super pro-poor"" policies-that is, policies that directly influence the income of the poor after accounting for the effect of growth. It uses a dynamic panel estimator to capture both across- and within-country effects, and a Bayesian-type robustness...

Timor–Leste’s initial efforts to develop a stable and healthy economy have been interrupted by the civil unrest of the past two years. The security situation remains fragile and an economic burden. The key challenge remains how to manage the abundant petroleum revenue to alleviate near-term...