Using a panel of firm-level data, this paper examines the effects of India's trade reforms in the early 1990s on firm productivity in the manufacturing sector, focusing on the interaction between this policy shock and firm and environment characteristics. The rapid and comprehensive tariff...

Macedonia showed an economic recovery owing to its macroeconomic policies. Executive Directors appreciated the sound fiscal policies and efforts in bringing inflation under control and increasing international reserves. They stressed the need to reduce unemployment and keep the account deficit...

The erosion of EU trade preferences for bananas and sugar will have immediate negative implications for Belize’s economy. This paper suggests ways to enhance public debt management in Belize. The vulnerability of the banking sector appears relatively modest. However, the current level of...

Liberia’s 2006 Article IV Consultation reports that the economy continues its modest recovery, driven by donor-related expenditure and the resumption of activity in rural areas. The government has endorsed the Governance and Economic Management Assistance Program that aims to strengthen...

Burundi is emerging from more than a decade of civil conflict that started with the 1993 coup d’état against its first elected government. Macroeconomic developments in 2005 were broadly in line with the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) program, although growth was lower at about...

This 2005 Article IV Consultation highlights that Palau’s economic growth has picked up in recent years while inflation has been low. After several years of slow growth, real GDP grew by 5 percent in FY2004 and FY2005, driven by a steady increase in visitor arrivals with the start of new...

The major risk factors faced by the Isle of Man (IOM), which have been given prominence by the global financial crisis, relate to large exposures toward parent banks. The recent global financial markets turmoil has had a significant impact on the Manx financial system. The paper also presents a...

This Selected Issues paper for Nicaragua reports that the Central America–Dominican Republic-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) provides a general framework for country-specific bilateral agreements. In addition to the phased liberalization of trade in goods, CAFTA-DR provides...

The empirical study shows that the equilibrium real exchange rate in Mauritius has been affected by the terms of trade, as well as by other fundamental determinants. It assesses the challenges posed to Mauritius’s trade performance by the expiration of the preferential trade arrangements....