This Report on Observance of Standards and Codes on Iceland summarizes the findings and recommendations of the assessment. This assessment of the current state of the implementation of the Basel Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision in Iceland has been completed as a stand-alone...

KEY ISSUES Unleashing Italy's Potential The economy is struggling to emerge from a prolonged balance-sheet recession. Tight credit conditions, weak corporate balance sheets, and deeply-rooted structural rigidities continue to weigh on domestic demand. The high level of public debt and membership...

KEY ISSUES Background: The large imbalances that accumulated prior to the global financial crisis culminated in a collapse of the banking sector in early 2013. In response, the authorities took unprecedented measures and adopted an economic adjustment program, supported by official financing,...

This Selected Issues paper on Cyprus models the evolution of the saving rate to help shed some light on its determinants, which could help inform medium-term projections. This paper suggests that household net wealth and unemployment are key determinants of the saving rate in Cyprus. Cypriot...

This Selected Issues paper analyzes the housing prices, consumption, and the household debt overhang in the Netherlands. Deflated housing prices that were fueled by robust borrowing often leave in their wake households with heavy debt burden. This “debt overhang” forces households into...

KEY ISSUES Context: Turkey’s economy has grown on average by 6 percent annually since 2010, but this has come at the expense of a persistently large external deficit making the economy sensitive to changes in external financing conditions. Inflation is high and above the authorities’ target,...

This Selected Issues paper examines the external imbalance situation in Turkey. Turkey’s current account deficit is expected to remain elevated at about 5.5 to 6 percent of GDP through 2019. Reducing the deficit to a more sustainable level about 2.5 to 3 percent of GDP should be a key policy...

KEY ISSUES Context: The economy is recovering slowly, driven mostly by private consumption and non-oil-and gas exports. Employment is increasing and unemployment has been trending downward slightly over the past year. Macroeconomic policy: The exchange rate peg to the euro has served Denmark...

This Selected Issues paper examines the household debt situation in Denmark and factors that have contributed to the high level of household debt in the country. Various factors seem to account for the size of household debt, including large pension assets, a highly developed mortgage market,...

KEY ISSUES Addressing the Household Debt Overhang The economy is slowly emerging from its balance sheet recession. Housing prices have steadied, exports are rising on expanding global trade, but consumption continues to contract on an annual basis, held down by household deleveraging and weak...