Despite the oil price shock, growth has been high. Discussions focused on the policies needed to reduce Costa Rica’s vulnerabilities, enhance growth, and reduce poverty in a lasting way. Passage of a substantial tax reform is essential. To bring inflation down to low single digits, the...

This Selected Issues paper examines the reasons for the poor initial performance of the Compact Trust Fund (CTF) of Micronesia and the issues related to the governance framework. The design and recent implementation of the CTF raise concerns that Micronesia will still face a difficult transition...

In recent years, the IMF has released a growing number of reports and other documents covering economic and financial developments and trends in member countries. Each report, prepared by a staff team after discussions with government officials, is published at the option of the member country.

The statistical appendices present the following details for Brunei Darussalam: Nominal GDP and quarterly nominal GDP by economic activity, nominal GDP and quarterly nominal GDP by expenditure, quarterly composition of nominal GDP and composition of nominal GDP by activity, real GDP and...

This statistical appendix paper for the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) was prepared as background documentation for the periodic consultation with the member country, during the period 2004–11. This paper is based on the information available at the time it was completed on December...

This Selected Issues paper analyzes the main determinants of inflation in Mongolia using empirical tests based on a structural model approach and vector autoregression model, with a view to assessing whether inflation is predominantly affected by commodity prices or by money supply developments....

The staff report for the First Review Under the Three-Year Arrangement for the Republic of Madagascar reviews economic and financial policies. The 2007 economic program is designed to sustain growth, promote fiscal consolidation, and reduce poverty while keeping inflation to single digits and...

This Selected Issues paper analyzes unemployment and education in Namibia. Using the Afrobarometer Project survey data, the paper develops some stylized facts about the Namibian labor market, focusing on the link between education, earnings, and unemployment. The paper finds that unemployment...

In recent years, the IMF has released a growing number of reports and other documents covering economic and financial developments and trends in member countries. Each report, prepared by a staff team after discussions with government officials, is published at the option of the member country.

This thesis explores whether scanner data can be used to inform Consumer Price Index (CPI) construction, with particular reference to the issues of substitution bias and choice of aggregation dimensions. The potential costs and benefits of using scanner data are reviewed. Existing estimates of...