Statistical data and issues are discussed in this paper. Mauritania reached the completion point under the enhanced Initiative for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries. In July 2004, a new economic team took actions to tighten fiscal and monetary policies. The authorities intend to adopt sound...

Ethiopia pursues a public sector-led growth strategy that focuses on promoting growth through high public investment supported partly by low nominal interest rates. While the strategy has contributed to robust economic growth in the past, recent developments indicate a buildup of vulnerabilities...

This paper focuses on Madagascar’s Request for Disbursement Under the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF). The Malagasy authorities managed to avert a macroeconomic crisis during a difficult period of political transition and economic uncertainty since 2009. However, these disruptions have...

KEY ISSUES Context. Over the past decade, Afghanistan has made enormous progress in reconstruction, development and lifting per capita income. Security and political uncertainties, and weak institutions have constrained growth and weighed on social outcomes. With significant reform efforts and...

This Joint Staff Advisory Note reviews Senegal’s Second Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP–II), and provides advice on key priorities for strengthening the updated strategy and promoting its effective implementation. The PRSP–II, covering 2006–10, builds on...

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...

This 2007 Article IV Consultation highlights that Vietnam has recorded continued strong economic performance since the conclusion of the last Article IV Consultation. GDP growth rose to 8.2 percent in 2006, with non-oil exports remaining an important engine of growth. Private investment has also...

This 2007 Article IV Consultation highlights that the implementation of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF)-supported program was broadly satisfactory for Congo in 2004–05. However, expenditure overruns and delays in structural reforms pushed the program off track in 2006....

The Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) on the Republic of Mozambique review the country’s macroeconomic, structural, and social policies in support of growth and poverty reduction, and external financing needs and major sources of financing. It is essential to guarantee that...