KEY ISSUES Steadfast policy implementation has been maintained through the final review of the program. Budget execution has once more been solid in 2013, with the fiscal deficit expected to remain within the Excessive Deficit Procedure ceiling. Budget 2014 targets a balanced adjustment path,...

Background: Uruguay has experienced a decade of strong and inclusive expansion since its 2002 crisis, thanks to important institutional reforms, large-scale FDI projects attracted by Uruguay’s stable macroeconomic environment and business-friendly investment climate, and favorable external...

KEY ISSUES Context. With GDP growth below trend and the investment phase of the mining boom having passed its peak and beginning to decline, a key issue is how Australia can manage the mining-production/export phase and encourage broader-based growth. The main external risks include a slowdown...

KEY ISSUES Near-term outlook. Malaysia’s healthy, noninflationary growth continued in 2013, albeit at a somewhat slower clip than earlier years. While domestic demand remained robust, the economy was buffeted by external headwinds, including from volatile capital flows in spring-summer and...

KEY ISSUES Context. As the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG), Qatar has turned into an important global financial investor, donor, and labor importer. Growth averaged 14 percent over the past decade and GDP per capita has reached $100,000, the highest in the world. Qatar...

KEY ISSUES Prudent fiscal policies with near-balanced budgets over the cycle have reduced gross public debt to about 10 percent of GDP. These policies have also led to a pro-cyclical fiscal stance, with unsustainable increases in spending during the boom and a sharp contraction during the...

KEY ISSUES Short-term vulnerabilities have risen significantly amid high fiscal and current account deficits. The international reserve position has weakened alongside mounting public debt. High interest rates and a depreciating currency have begun to weaken private sector activity, and spreads...

KEY ISSUES Outlook and risks. The macroeconomic outlook is favorable. Growth has firmed, inflation has eased, and unemployment has remained low—trends that are expected to continue. The main risks relate to the impact of the Fed’s tapering, the outlook for the Mainland, and a possible...

In recent years, the IMF has released a growing number of reports and other documents covering economic and financial developments and trends in member countries. Each report, prepared by a staff team after discussions with government officials, is published at the option of the member country

In the near term, growth will be stimulated by public investments in infrastructure, bringing on stream new oil developments, and by the recovery of agriculture from the 2011 drought. In the medium term, oil production is expected to rise from 120,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2011 to about...