The paper on which this One Pager is based (Roy, Abu-Ismail and Ramos, 2011) suggests concrete policy options which would create the fiscal space needed for structural transformation. After analysing the fiscal constraints faced by different countries and country groupings in the region, the...

When the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was created, its purpose was to support the new system of fixed exchange rate regimes. With the breakdown of the par-value system, its article on exchange-rate arrangements?Article IV?had to be revised. Per the revised version, the IMF would annually...

When the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was created during the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference in 1944, its purpose was ?to provide a framework that facilitates the exchange of goods, services, and capital among countries, and that sustains sound economic growth.? In that...

[Introduction] The fundamental development challenge in the Arab region is one of economic transformation or, more pertinent, a lack thereof. Heavy sectoral weights of extractive industries lead to dependence on global oil prices, even in oil-producing countries. The structure of production...

This Country Study is based on a full national report that is the first to draw a profile of poverty in Lebanon based on money-metric poverty measurements of household expenditures. The report provides a comprehensive overview of the characteristics of the poor and estimates the extent of...

Money-metric indicators of poverty are a powerful tool to understand human deprivation. However, as the measurement of money-metric poverty lends itself to a wide range of definitions, theories and methodologies, there is often little agreement, even among poverty experts, on basic questions...

From a money-metric perspective, poverty is a crystal-clear concept. A household is considered to be poor (poverty is typically estimated for households, not for individuals) if the total income or expenditure of its members lies below a specific threshold (referred to as the poverty line) which...