Nicaragua’s report on the Observance of Standards and Codes examines Data Module, response by the authorities, and detailed assessments using the data quality assessment framework. The Ministry of Finance and Public Credit provides an institutional environment for compiling budgetary...

This paper focuses on the 2002 Article IV Consultation and a New Staff-Monitored Program (SMP) for Jamaica. In June 2000, the Jamaican authorities undertook an SMP for FY2000/01–2001/02 designed to tackle the heavy public sector burden and restore economic growth. To build on the progress...

This paper presents an update to the Czech Republic’s Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC) on Fiscal Transparency, Banking Supervision, Insurance Regulation, Securities Regulation, Payment Systems, and Monetary and Financial Policy Transparency. The Czech Republic...

This paper reviews economic developments in Turkey during 1994–97. Real wages increased rapidly during 1989–93, dropped sharply in 1994–95, and have since recovered modestly. Real wage flexibility stems in part from the absence of widespread wage indexation, despite chronic...

This paper examines Uruguay’s Sixth Review Under the Stand-By Arrangement and Requests for Modification of the Arrangement. The macroeconomic framework is on track, but progress with structural reform remains uneven. Fiscal performance has been better than programmed, reflecting buoyant...

This paper discusses Tajikistan’s Fifth Review Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) and Request for Waiver of Performance Criterion. The macroeconomic outcome in the first quarter of 2005 was satisfactory, but the deteriorating external environment will make it harder to...

This Selected Issues paper presents an analysis of trends in growth and investment in India in the 1990s, with a focus on the slowdown in growth during the second half of the 1990s. The paper discusses the fiscal situation, outlining the key reasons for the deterioration in fiscal balances, how...

This Selected Issues paper examines the progress of Slovenia by focusing on four interrelated topics that are critically important to the evolution of the transition process and provides insights into the work that lies ahead. The paper concludes that the voucher-based privatization process has...

Executive Directors commended the authorities for their policies to maintain macroeconomic stability, which had resulted in favorable growth performance and zero inflation, and welcomed improvements in tax collection and encouraged the authorities to continue with their efforts to strengthen tax...

This paper assesses the 2001 Article IV Consultation and Staff-Monitored Program (SMP) for Sao Tome and Principe. Fiscal slippages, delays in structural reforms, and governance problems during the fourth quarter of 2000 and the first three quarters of 2001 led to the program going off track. The...