Anglophone African countries have been implementing reform and modernization initiatives in their Customs administrations. This paper outlines the progression of key reform and modernization initiatives in these countries since the early 1990s, and assesses the gap between these reforms and...

Despite positive but mixed progress over two decades, most lower income African countries need to enhance their low tax-to-GDP ratios by mobilizing domestic resources to complement debt relief, donor aid and to achieve the MDG and poverty reduction objectives. With these goals in mind, most...

In the wake of violent conflict, a key element of building a durable peace is building a state with the ability to collect and manage public resources. To implement peace accords and provide public services, the government must be able to collect revenue, allocate resources, and manage...

This 2005 Article IV Consultation highlights that macroeconomic developments in Madagascar in 2003 and 2004 were dominated by the sharp depreciation of the national currency, and rising inflation pressures, with year-over-year consumer price inflation reaching 30 percent at end-February 2005. At...

Bangladesh achieved steady gross domestic product growth with manageable inflation, and improved social indicators, owing to prudent macroeconomic management and a renewal of structural reform. The proposed Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility-supported program builds on this record of policy...

German banks tend to be less profitable than their foreign counterparts. This paper estimates the likely effect of the phaseout of state guarantees for public sector banks, reviews the various ways in which public policy could contribute to their restructuring, and discusses the various...