This paper discusses key findings of the First Review Under the Stand-By Arrangement for Colombia. The economy is expected to continue to perform well in 2005. Real GDP is expected to grow by 4 percent, with consumer prices rising by 5 percent, as targeted. The external current account deficit...

This Selected Issues paper on the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) reviews the evolution of actual and equilibrium real effective exchange rates (REER). The current level of the CEMAC REER is broadly in line with its long-term equilibrium value. The estimation approach...

This paper examines Congo’s Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (I-PRSP). Congo’s I-PRSP explains the features and causes of poverty in Congo. It provides a short- and medium-term vision of development as well as a strategic orientation for a return to sustainable and equitable growth....

The Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) on Burkina Faso focus on recapitulation of major long-term development. To improve the identification and targeting of the major public actions that contribute to combating poverty, the government has decided to prepare a Priority Action Program...

This Selected Issues paper and Statistical Appendix presents a debt sustainability analysis for Afghanistan. The analysis is based on a simple spreadsheet model that calculates indicators of sustainability in terms of ratios of the net present value (NPV) of debt and debt service to relevant...

This 2005 Article IV Consultation highlights that Australia has implemented wide-ranging structural reforms and strengthened the frameworks for monetary and fiscal policies over the past two decades. As a result, Australia’s economic expansion is now in its 14th year, with growth averaging...

This paper presents Indonesia’s 2005 Article IV Consultation and Third Post-Program Monitoring discussions. The economic strategy has produced positive results over time. Economic growth has gained momentum year by year, inflation has been substantially reduced, and the external position has...

This Selected Issues paper analyzes the effect of international migration on unemployment in New Zealand. The empirical results in this paper suggest that net migration inflows give rise to a fall in the unemployment rate. The paper estimates a system of equations including the unemployment...

This paper presents key findings of the Ex Post Assessment of Longer-Term Program Engagement for Bolivia. Bolivia is a country that is perceived as having one of the best structural reform records in Latin America but experienced sluggish per capita growth, and made virtually no progress in...

This paper examines the Annual Progress Report (APR) on Rwanda’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP). The 2004 APR is an important progress marker in Rwanda’s long-term vision to reduce the proportion of Rwandans living below the poverty line from 60 percent to 25 percent and raise per...