This Selected Issues and Statistical Appendix paper examines the scope for improving the effectiveness of fiscal policy of Serbia and Montenegro in containing the persistently large external imbalance. The paper discusses the causes of the current problems and presents preliminary results of the...

The staff report for the 2004 Article IV Consultation on Jordan highlights economic developments and policies. General sales tax collections increased strongly boosted by high import growth and improved revenue administration. The government has embarked on a substantial improvement of the...

This Selected Issues paper and Statistical Appendix for the Lao People’s Democratic Republic underlies debt sustainability analysis. Sensitivity analysis reveals that if the pace of economic reforms falters, the debt burden—high even in the baseline case—could become...

This paper discusses key findings of the Fourth Review Under the Stand-By Arrangement and Review of Financing Assurances for Gabon. Rising non-oil revenue and continued expenditure control contributed to maintaining fiscal discipline, and all quantitative performance criteria for end-March 2005...

This 2004 Article IV Consultation states that Hungary’s entry into the European Union comes on the heels of impressive accomplishments. Its successes were based on the long-lasting effects of significant structural reforms and privatization during the 1990s, which also facilitated...

Since the last Article IV Consultation, the Sri Lankan economy has advanced on several fronts. However, the economic effects of the two-decade long civil conflict are yet to be overcome, and many challenges remain. Recently, heightened political uncertainty has constrained the...

This report provides an assessment of fiscal transparency in Germany. The assessment has two parts. The first is a description of practices, prepared by the IMF staff on the basis of discussions with the authorities, their comprehensive responses to the fiscal transparency questionnaire, and...

The staff report for the First Review Under the Three-Year Arrangement Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility on Georgia highlights economic developments and policies. Growth has remained robust and inflation subdued against the backdrop of steady remonetization. Rapid growth in fiscal...

A weakness of decentralization and overall tax reforms in Latin America is the lack of attention to adequate taxation at the subnational government. A reliance on shared taxes with extensive earmarking leads to weak subnational accountability and soft budget constraints. The paper explores the...

This paper examines tax policy and tax reforms in Uganda. Using household survey evidence, the paper identifies which taxes are progressive and investigates whether tax reforms have made the poor better or worse off. Household survey analysis reveals that some of the tax reforms implemented in...