This 2002 Article IV Consultation highlights that despite frequent shocks and an uncertain policy environment in Vanuatu, macroeconomic stability has been maintained. Real GDP growth was 21⁄2 percent in 2000 owing to an agriculture-led recovery. However, the economy contracted by 2 percent in...

Liberia has begun the long process of recovery and rehabilitation after the civil war. The government should expand its focus from near-term relief and reconstruction to a more comprehensive reconstruction and economic reform program. The government remains committed to its economic and...

Slovenia is among the most successful transition economies of central and eastern Europe. The authorities have consistently maintained conservative macroeconomic policies, which together with the relatively favorable starting point, allowed them the luxury of a gradual pace of reform. This...

This 2009 Article IV Consultation highlights that the U.S. economy has experienced the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. In the second half of 2008, financial pressures intensified and came to a head with the failure of Lehman Brothers in September. Executive Directors have...

The macroeconomic developments in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia were positive, despite the Kosovo crisis. Executive Directors welcomed this development, stressed the need to implement prudent financial policies, and accelerate structural reforms. They emphasized the need to improve...

A considerable degree of macroeconomic stability was achieved by Bolivia, and by the steadfast implementation of structural reforms, most of the distortions that adversely affected the economy in the early 1980s were removed. The Bolivian authorities are committed to fighting poverty. Executive...

Over the last decade, the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) macroeconomic performance has deteriorated relative to the rest of the Caribbean. Tourism accounts for three-fifths of exports, and the import content of consumption and investment is high. The ECCB-operated quasi-currency board...

The staff report for the 2006 Article IV Consultation on Botswana highlights economic developments and monetary and exchange rate policy. Botswana’s growth has been fueled by continued increases in diamond production; and real diamond output is projected to level off, and then decline sharply...

This paper identifies and documents the properties of output gap recessions and recoveries in the Middle East, North Africa, and Pakistan (MENAP) during the 1980 to 2008 period. It goes on to investigate the key determinants of the recoveries. The duration of MENAP countries’ recessions and...

This paper assesses the effectiveness of stabilization policies and structural reforms in Albania since 1997 and seeks to identify the remaining key challenges in various policy areas. It also draws lessons for other transition economies from the recent Albanian experience. While progress has...