Ghana showed strong growth underpinned by high commodity export prices, the start of oil production, and strong non-oil activity. Executive Directors welcomed this development, and stressed that monetary policy implementation will need to remain vigilant. Directors welcomed the recent approval...

Hungary was severely affected by the crisis. The financial sector has remained resilient throughout the crisis. The Central Bank (MNB) paused in mid-2010 and has tightened interest rates by 50 basis points since November in response to a sharp rise in risk premia and higher headline inflation...

Ghana’s macroeconomic outlook is positive, and the medium-term policy stance is appropriate. On the fiscal side, the government plans to scale up infrastructure investment and further boost revenues. A revised debt sustainability analysis suggests scope for higher nonconcessional...

The report on the Netherlands on the Observance of Standards and Codes discusses the fiscal transparency module and the Aide-Mémoire regarding the fiscal framework. The roles and responsibilities of and within government are, in general, clearly defined and, in many areas, the Netherlands sets...

The U.K. economy is on the mend, but crisis-related scars still need healing. The challenge ahead will be to ensure sustainable recovery and balance sheet repair while remaining flexible to respond to shocks. A highly accommodative monetary stance is required to offset the contractionary impulse...

This paper reviews the trade-offs in Switzerland, focusing on challenges for fiscal policy coordination. It reviews the benefits and costs of a highly decentralized government, describes the Swiss institutional architecture, and analyzes Switzerland’s fiscal performance. It also discusses...

This paper examines the role of tax administration in developing countries from an economic perspective. The traditional separation of tax policy and tax administration in the literature is shown to break down in developing countries, where tax administrators decide in what manner complicated...

The Government of Namibia has a full equity share of four specialist or policy banking corporation. There are a large number of public nonfinancial corporations, in which the government has a part or full ownership share, including public utilities and Air Namibia, the national airline. There...

The current crisis calls for two main sets of policy measures. First, measures to repair the financial system. Second, measures to increase demand and restore confidence. While some of these measures overlap, the focus of this note is on the second set of policies, and more specifically, given...

This staff report discusses the Republic of Kosovo’s request for a Stand-By Arrangement. Kosovo is in the final stages of transition to full self-governance in economic and financial affairs. Kosovo’s economy has remained largely shielded from turbulence in the euro area, owing to...