This 1999 Article IV Consultation highlights that during 1990–98, St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ real annual GDP growth and inflation averaged 4 percent and 3 percent, respectively. Tourism’s importance to the economy grew, and agriculture’s fell, with other sectors’ contributions...

This Selected Issues paper and Statistical Appendix examines some aspects of the civil service reform in Benin. It describes the main features of the promotion and compensation system currently in place; assesses the early efforts at reforming the civil service; and examines the main measures...

This Selected Issues paper and Statistical Appendix examines the possible policy responses of Algeria to the reduction of fiscal revenue and the deterioration of the external balance, and more generally the negative wealth effect on the country, stemming from the decline in oil prices. The paper...

This Selected Issues paper and Statistical Appendix analyzes the progress made by Estonia since independence. It takes stock of the developments in the banking system and describes how the number of banks in Estonia has been reduced through a series of bankruptcies and mergers from 41 in 1992 to...

This Recent Economic Developments and Selected Issues paper on Georgia highlights that during 1997, the Georgian economy grew by 11 percent according to official estimates, while the average annual inflation rate continued its downward path initiated in 1995 and reached single-digit levels of...

This note estimates potential output for France during 1980–2010, using three distinct approaches, and discusses long-term growth prospects. The focus on capital taxation highlights the need for a broader reform of the French tax system to address the features that hamper job growth,...

Following a strong showing in early 2011, the economies across Europe now face the prospect of a pronounced slowdown, as global growth has softened, risk aversion has risen, and strains in Europe's sovereign debt and financial markets have deepened, according to this issue of the Regional...

This Selected Issues paper examines the role of the State Petroleum Fund in Norwegian economic policy, as a means to promote a sustainable long-term fiscal position and to help maintain the competitiveness of the non-oil (“mainland”) economy in the face of high oil export revenues. The paper...

This paper reviews economic developments in the Russian Federation during 1990–98. Output fell precipitously in 1992–94 in response to the withdrawal of subsidies and the disruption in traditional economic relations, but the decline then began to taper off, and real GDP registered a small...