This 2004 Article IV Consultation highlights that Costa Rica’s economic performance improved in 2003. Following several years of slow growth, real GDP rose by 51⁄2 percent, boosted by a recovery of exports and strong private investment. Inflation declined below 10 percent while unemployment...

This paper examines the Staff-Monitored Program (SMP) for Malawi. The authorities have requested staff monitoring of their macroeconomic program for the 2004/05 fiscal year (June–July) with a view to establishing a performance track record that could lead to a new Poverty Reduction and Growth...

The staff report for the Second Review Under the Three-Year Arrangement Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility on Dominica focuses on macroeconomic framework and fiscal policy. The program has been based on the expectation that Dominica will achieve a collaborative debt restructuring...

This Selected Issues paper analyzes trends in Tanzania’s external competitiveness and export performance. Using various multilateral and bilateral real exchange rates, the paper looks at developments in Tanzania’s real effective exchange rate since 1990. It evaluates the misalignment in the...

This paper reviews the Third Progress Report 2002/03 for Tanzania’s Poverty Reduction Strategy. The report highlights what the government did during the past year in terms of policy developments, an assessment of the achievements and challenges, including the monitoring system. There are...

Rwanda’s Second and Third Reviews under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility, and request for Waiver of Performance Criteria are discussed. After an extended period characterized by a strong expansion of economic activity, real GDP growth is estimated by IMF staff to have slowed to 0.9...

Bulgaria’s request for a 25-month precautionary Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) in an amount of SDR 100 million or 15.62 percent of quota is discussed. The SBA-supported program seeks to reduce increased external vulnerability and to achieve sustainable high growth through a tighter fiscal policy...

This 2004 Article IV Consultation highlights that following the near crisis in the first half of 2003, the authorities in Jamaica have succeeded over the past year in stabilizing the economy and restoring market confidence. The foreign exchange market stabilized in mid-2003, inflation has...

This 2004 Article IV Consultation highlights that since the last Article IV consultation discussions, economic activity in Latvia has maintained its momentum. GDP grew 71⁄2 percent in 2003 and 83⁄4 percent year over year in the first quarter of 2004; however, inflation climbed to 6.1 percent at...

This 2004 Article IV Consultation highlights that the government of the Solomon Islands has moved rapidly to stabilize budgetary finances since the arrival in mid-2003 of the multinational Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) that has restored law and order throughout the...