This 2017 Article IV Consultation highlights that growth in Moldova is expected to be about 3 percent in 2018. Inflation is forecast to return to target in 2018, following a pickup in 2017. The banking sector has been stable, the fiscal performance has improved and Moldova's external position...

Europe continues to enjoy a strong growth spurt. Growth has firmed up in many European economies and the forecast is for more of the same. Real GDP increased by 2.8 percent in 2017, up from 1.8 percent in 2016. The expansion is largely driven by domestic demand, with investment increasingly...

Economic activity continued to expand in the first half of 2018, albeit at a slower-than-expected pace, mainly in advanced Europe. Domestic demand, supported by stronger employment and wages, remains the main engine of growth. However, the external environment has become less supportive and is...

This 2018 Article IV Consultation highlights that Austria's economic recovery is strong and broad-based. Following several years of slow growth, Austria's output picked up markedly in 2017, and through early-2018. Output expanded by 3 percent in 2017, boosted by income tax cuts passed in 2016,...

This paper discusses Republic of Kosovo's Request for Purchase Under the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI). The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the associated containment measures have severely weakened Kosovo's economic outlook. The economy is expected to contract by 5 percent...

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused dramatic loss of human life and major damage to the European economy, but thanks to an exceptionally strong policy response, potentially devastating outcomes have been avoided

The Belgian financial system is relatively large, concentrated, and interconnected and has a high level of compliance with the Basel Core Principles (BCPs) for effective banking supervision. The National Bank of Belgium (NBB) deploys high-quality supervisory practices and has clear lines of...

The Belgian insurance industry was adversely affected by the global financial crisis and continued to confront challenges related to legacy assets and economic uncertainties in Europe. The Belgian authorities have made significant progress in updating the insurance regulatory regime and...

The Belgium Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) stress testing exercise examines a financial sector that remains in a state of transformation. Domestic economic challenges remain sources of continued uncertainty as the banking sector consolidates and reduces funding risks. Insurers face...

This paper discusses Greece's Fifth Review Under the Extended Arrangement Under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), and Request for Waiver of Nonobservance of Performance Criterion and Rephasing of Access. Greece has gone from having the weakest to the strongest cyclically adjusted fiscal position...