This paper discusses a request from the Republic of Latvia for a Stand-By Arrangement. The Latvian authorities are launching a decisive economic reform program and are seeking substantial international financial assistance to quell the crisis. With international reserves falling precipitously...

Burundi is emerging from more than a decade of civil conflict that started with the 1993 coup d’état against its first elected government. Macroeconomic developments in 2005 were broadly in line with the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) program, although growth was lower at about...

This report discusses Iceland’s Second Review under the Stand-By Arrangement and Request for Extension of the Arrangement. Supportive fiscal policies have helped consumption hold up better than expected, while the external sector has benefited from currency depreciation and higher...

This paper discusses key findings of the Seventh Review and Inflation Consultation Under the Stand-By Arrangement for Turkey. Macroeconomic developments have become less favorable since the last review in May 2007. Political developments have distracted attention from an ambitious economic...

Fiscal problems have long been considered a central feature of financial--that is, currency, debt, and banking--crises. This paper addresses four questions: What are the fiscal causes of crises? Which fiscal vulnerability indicators help to predict crises? Can fiscal variables explain the...

Croatia’s annual GDP growth accelerated to 4–5 percent, per capita incomes advanced further toward the EU average, and unemployment declined to the lowest levels since Croatia’s independence. The staff report for Croatia’s 2009 Article IV Consultation is also...

The report provides the third Review of the Republic of Croatia Under the Stand-By Arrangement (SBA). Policies under the SBA have sought to reduce Croatia’s savings-investment imbalance and stabilize the external debt-to-GDP ratio. Executive Directors agreed that the main success of the...

This 2002 Article IV Consultation highlights that after four years of strong growth, economic activity in Cyprus has tailed off since late 2001, affected by the global economic slowdown. The authorities estimate growth for 2002 to have declined to 2.3 percent, with falling tourist arrivals and...

The 2006 Article IV consultation underlies policy issues, including fiscal policy, monetary policy, and structural issues of the Republic of Croatia. Although bank restructuring and privatization have strengthened the financial sector, strong credit expansion and foreign exchange-induced credit...