Country Reports

January 22, 2019

Gabon: Gabon: Third Review under the Extended Arrangement Under the Extended Fund Facility, and Requests for Waiver of Nonobservance of Performance Criterion, and Modifications of Performance Criterion-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Gabon

Description: Political risks appear to have subsided with the completion of legislative and local elections in October. The economy is slowly recovering, fiscal consolidation has continued, inflation has remained low, and the trade balance has improved. The recovery is expected to firm up in 2019 and the medium-term outlook is still promising, although risks remain mostly tilted to the downside.

January 17, 2019

Panama: 2018 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Panama

January 17, 2019

Panama: Selected Issues

Description: This Selected Issues paper argues that Panama’s prospects for maintaining buoyant growth critically depends on continued productivity growth underpinned by comprehensive reforms focused on improving education quality, attracting talent, and continuing to enhance the investment climate. Panama experienced both episodes of growth convergence and divergence over the past several decades. Following a stellar performance in recent decades, Panama’s prospects of maintaining high growth rates and moving toward the club of high-income economies critically depends on continued productivity gains. Panama’s economy embarked on a path of rapid growth since the political stabilization in the 1990s, which has brought it closer to moving from the middle to the high-income bracket. However, maintaining high growth rates may prove increasingly challenging, particularly for countries at Panama’s current level of income. Policies that focus on improving education quality, attracting foreign talent toward knowledge-based sectors of the economy, and strengthening the investment environment are likely to be essential for sustaining productivity growth.

January 17, 2019

Panama: 2018 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Panama

Description: Panama has had the longest and fastest economic expansion in recent Latin American history. The economy has expanded at an average rate of about 6 percent per annum over the last quarter of a century, with Panama achieving one of the highest per capita income in Latin America. More recently, GDP grew by about 5½ percent in 2017 (driven by the expanded Canal), and then slowed to 3¾ percent (y/y) in H1-2018. Inflation remained subdued, reaching almost 1 percent (y/y) in September 2018. The external current account deficit stayed at 8 percent of GDP in 2017, mostly covered by FDI. The fiscal position continued to be strong, with the overall deficit of the non-financial public sector (NFPS) at about 1½ percent of GDP. Credit growth has decelerated as financial conditions have started to tighten.

January 17, 2019

Republic of Belarus: Selected Issues

Description: This Selected Issues paper takes stock of the current level of dollarization, both in historic and international perspective. By looking at recent measures and international best practice, it draws some recommendations for a successful de-dollarization framework. Belarus has a high level of loan and deposit dollarization as a result of repeated external crises and hyperinflation. Dollarization in Belarus is much higher than many other countries, accounting for various drivers of dollarization. Dollarization has been decreasing but it is still higher than a decade ago. The authorities have been taking welcome steps to liberalize the foreign exchange (FX) market, such as, for example, eliminating the FX surrender requirement and easing the registration procedure for FX transactions. An overarching and publicly communicated national strategy to de-dollarize the economy is a missing piece of the puzzle. Such a strategy would be an important signaling and commitment device and would help educate borrowers about the risks (private and social) of FX borrowing. The strategy would contain an operational roadmap that would also ensure the coherence of existing policies, and coordinate policy and operational steps.

January 17, 2019

Republic of Belarus: 2018 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Republic of Belarus

Description: The Belarusian economy is in a cyclical recovery, inflation is at historically low levels and the exchange rate has been broadly stable. Although macroeconomic policy frameworks have improved, there is a need to reduce deep seated vulnerabilities such as rapidly rising public debt, high dollarization, and limited trade and financing diversification. In addition, reforms of the large state-owned enterprise sector are critical to tackle inefficiencies and increase potential growth. Risks ahead are elevated; notably, Belarus could lose significant oil-related discounts and transfers due to internal tax changes in Russia, but the authorities are confident of a successful outcome to the ongoing negotiations.

January 16, 2019

Islamic Republic of Mauritania: Technical Assistance Report-Report on the External Sector Statistics Technical Assistance Mission (March 19-30, 2018)

Description: With the support of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia Department (MCD), and at the request of the Central Bank of Mauritania (BCM), the IMF’s Statistics Department (STA) mission visited Nouakchott from March 19–30, 2018, to provide technical assistance (TA) in the area of external sector statistics (ESS). This mission is part of an initiative financed by the Financial Sector Stability Fund (FSSF): Balance Sheet Approach (BSA) Sub-Module. This intersectoral effort will enable the production of more reliable BSA matrices to support macroprudential policies, the country’s financial stability analysis, and the IMF’s surveillance missions. The mission’s key objectives were to work closely with the BCM in order to (i) improve the compilation of the balance of payments (BOP), and (ii) propose a framework for compiling the international investment position (IIP). Based on the findings and recommendations of the last TA mission on external sector statistics (ESS) carried out at the BCM in October 2016, this mission notes the need to improve the quality of most items in the BOP, particularly the financial account, which could also aid IIP compilation efforts in the near future.

January 15, 2019

Finland: 2018 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Finland

Description: Recent growth has been healthy, and the unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest level since 2011. However, some underlying weaknesses remain. The rate in which new jobs are created and the “churn” of workers relocating across jobs has not picked up with the recovery, labor productivity growth remains weak, and the outlook for potential growth is constrained by a shrinking workforce. Household debt has been increasing as the economy has recovered, and some borrowers appear vulnerable to interest rate increases.

January 15, 2019

Finland: Selected Issues

Description: This Selected Issues paper summarizes Nordea’s operations and business model; the macroeconomic and prudential implications of the move; and policy responses taken so far. The IMF staff’s assessment is that banking supervision in the euro area has improved significantly following the creation of the Single Supervisory Mechanism, which should mitigate potential risks from Nordea’s move; meanwhile, the Nordic authorities have done much, in conjunction with the European Central Bank, to ensure that potential gaps and fragmentation across national jurisdictions are avoided. The resolution framework is designed to prevent taxpayers having to bail out banks, but is new, and work on building the crisis preparedness of euro area banks is still under way. The banking union is not yet complete, details of the backstop for the Single Resolution Fund need to be finalized and a common euro area deposit insurance should be made fully operational. At the same time, Nordea is also operating in non-euro area member states—maintaining cooperation between euro area and noneuro area institutions remains important.

January 10, 2019

Lao People’s Democratic Republic: Technical Assistance Report-Report on National Accounts Statistics Mission

Description: A technical assistance mission was conducted during July 2–13, 2018 to support measurement of Lao PDR’s national accounts statistics. The mission assisted with the development of a quarterly GDP time series, reviewed the published annual GDP time series, and developed recommendations to continue improving national accounts statistics compiled by the Lao Statistics Bureau (LSB). The mission built upon previous national accounts statistics missions conducted in April 2017 and January 2018.