South Africa’s macroeconomic policies face a complicated task of balancing between supporting domestic demand and maintaining stability. The Selected Issues paper for South Africa discusses economic development and policies. Although the opening output gap and declining employment do call...

The study shows that the global financial crisis has adversely affected Kuwait’s financial system, especially in the Investment Company (IC) sector. Stress tests indicate that, in contrast to the ICs, the banking system could broadly withstand significant shocks. The Central Bank of...

This paper presents key findings of the Second Review for the Kyrgyz Republic under the Extended Credit Facility. Buoyant revenue collection and significant shortfalls in external financing led to a lower-than-programmed fiscal deficit for 2011. The overall health of the banking sector continued...

The recent crisis and interest rate declines have put the financial sustainability of the Dutch occupational pension system under severe strain. The benefit-cutting measures have been received by the public as an unexpected and almost unknown option inherent in the pension contracts. Adding to...

This Joint Staff Advisory Note (JSAN) highlights the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper–Country Development Strategy (PRSP–CDS) for the Kyrgyz Republic for 2007–10. The Kyrgyz authorities’ CDS for 2007–10 builds on the policy experience from the National Poverty...

SUMMARY The Korean authorities have made significant progress since the last FSAP in revising the securities regulatory framework, with the current framework achieving good overall compliance with the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) Principles. Importantly, the...

This Selected Issues paper provides a preliminary view on Afghanistan’s external competitiveness through a review of some macroeconomic, microeconomic, and institutional indicators. It discusses the rebuilding of domestic revenue, and analyzes the macroeconomic impact of the drug economy...

KEY ISSUES Background: Yemen has made good progress since the 2011 crisis in advancing the political transition. However, the fledgling economic recovery remained insufficient to make a dent in unemployment and poverty, and fundamental reforms were postponed for fear of derailing the National...

An IMF staff team has visited Dushanbe during April 23–May 3, 2001, to undertake the second review of the third annual arrangement under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF). With the exception of a continuous performance criterion pertaining to the accumulation of external...