This paper examines Honduras’s 2005 Article IV Consultation and Second Review Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility. In the period 1960–2000, output growth in Honduras ranked among the lowest in the region. During the 1990s, when growth recovered in the rest of Central...

This Selected Issues paper analyzes the sources of recent growth in Tajikistan. It concludes that economic growth has been mainly driven by the services sector and a surge in remittances that have been mainly used for private consumption and small-scale private investment. The paper summarizes...

Good progress has been made in stabilizing the economic and social situation since the crisis. Fiscal adjustment over a prolonged period will bring the public finances to a sustainable path. To protect social expenditures and allow higher public investment, a comprehensive tax reform is...

This Selected Issues paper for Austria looks at the fiscal burden facing Austria owing to aging, and the policy steps necessary to address it. It gives a short description of the Austrian pension, health care, and long-term care systems, and describes how aging will affect the costs of these...

The Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) on Georgia review macroeconomic, structural, and social policies in support of growth and poverty reduction, as well as associated external financing needs and major sources of financing. The sustainability of high economic growth is a positive...

This 1999 Article IV Consultation highlights that the recession in Colombia intensified in 1999. The unemployment rate rose to a record 20 percent in September, while inflation fell to 9½ percent and the current account deficit came down sharply. The fiscal position deteriorated markedly...

Mongolia has performed commendably under the Poverty Reduction Growth Facility arrangements. Executive Directors commended the prudent macroeconomic policies, low inflation, and reduction in vulnerability. They stressed the need to strengthen the fiscal position, improve economic governance,...

This paper reviews economic developments in Lithuania during 1993–96. Economic growth resumed in 1994 and gained further momentum in 1995; real GDP increased by an estimated 3 percent in 1995. Growth in 1995 was driven by the industrial sector, while agriculture performed poorly. The...

This paper describes economic developments in Belize during the 1990s. Following a strong performance in the late 1980s, Belize’s economy weakened in 1991–93, mainly because of a substantial deterioration in the fiscal position. The overall deficit of the nonfinancial public sector...

This report on the Observance of Standards and Codes data module provides a review of Lithuania’s data dissemination practices against the IMF’s Special Data Dissemination Standard, complemented by an in-depth assessment of the quality of the national accounts, consumer price...