This paper is the third in a series assessing macroeconomic developments and prospects in low-income developing countries (LIDCs). The first of these papers (IMF, 2014a) examined trends during 2000-2014, a period of sustained strong growth across most LIDCs. The second paper (IMF, 2015a) focused...

This paper examines macroeconomic developments and prospects in low-income developing countries (LIDCs) against the back-drop of a sharp fall in international commodity prices. The focus here-by contrast with IMF (2014a)-is on recent developments and the near-term outlook, recognizing that the...

Enhancing public and private investment, but also ensuring that this translates into higher growth and employment, have long been key policy challenges in Arab countries. Reflecting an improvement in policies and global conditions, investment rates in Arab countries have increased over the past...

As a companion piece to the Board paper on Structural Reforms and Macroeconomic Performance: Initial Considerations for the Fund, this paper presents a selection of case studies on the structural reform experiences of member countries. These papers update the Board on work since the Triennial...

This paper explores how fiscal policy can affect medium- to long-term growth. It identifies the main channels through which fiscal policy can influence growth and distills practical lessons for policymakers. The particular mix of policy measures, however, will depend on country-specific...

The role of trade in the global economy is at a critical juncture. Increased trade integration helped to drive economic growth in advanced and developing economies in the latter part of the 20th century. Since the early 2000's, however, a slowdown in the pace of trade reform, a post-crisis...

On July 17, 2017, the Fund, as Trustee of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT or Trust), entered into a new borrowing agreement (the 'Agreement') with the Bank of Italy (hereafter, Italy or Purchaser), by which Italy will provide new resources to the Extended Credit Facility Loan...

This paper reviews the interest rate structure that would apply to the PRGT in 2017-18. Based on the interest rate setting mechanism agreed in 2009, the interest rate for the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) would be zero and the rate for the Standby Credit Facility (SCF) would be 0.25 percent....

the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT or Trust), has entered into a new borrowing agreement with the Bank of Spain (Spain), amendments to the 2010 NPA with the Government of Japan (Japan), and a new note purchase agreement (NPA) with the People's Bank of China (China). The new borrowing...

The IMF, as Trustee of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT or Trust), has entered into a new borrowing agreement with the Government of Canada (Canada), and has entered into amendments to the 2010 borrowing agreement with De Nederlandsche Bank NV (The Netherlands) and the 2011 borrowing...