This paper discusses key findings of the Fifth Review Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) for Armenia. Fiscal policy has been prudent, but increasing expenditure pressures are creating medium-term fiscal risks. Tax collection still falls short of financing needs for...

This paper discusses key findings of the Second Review Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility for Albania. The outlook for 2007 is positive, with growth projected at 6 percent. These developments owe much to good macroeconomic policies. All quantitative program targets were met. The...

We use the rise and dispersion of sovereign spreads to tell the story of the emergence and escalation of financial tensions within the eurozone. This process evolved through three stages. Following the onset of the Subprime crisis in July 2007, spreads rose but mainly due to common global...

This paper proposes a new empirical measure of cooperative versus conflictual crisis resolution following sovereign default and debt distress. The index of government coerciveness is presented as a proxy for excusable versus inexcusable default behaviour and used to evaluate the costs of default...

Zambia’s 2005 Article IV Consultation and Third Review Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility are discussed. Expenditure restraint, including on the wage bill, has helped to put the fiscal operations of the government on a sustainable course and contributed to the attainment of...

In this study, owing to the global financial crisis, a Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) for the Dominican Republic was approved. The aim is to limit the procyclical policies in the short-term and discussions focused on policies necessary to ensure that the end-2011 and 2011 targets are observed....

Albania’s macroeconomic performance over the past year has been good, with strong growth and a significant reduction in poverty under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility Arrangement. Executive Directors commended the new strategy for maintaining the macroeconomic stability,...

Improving debt management capacity in Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs) is a key element of the international community’s strategy for ensuring a robust and sustained exit from unsustainable debt burdens. External debt management is a multi-facetted task involving the formulation of a...