Country Reports
2023
July 28, 2023
Iceland: Financial Sector Assessment Program-Technical Note on Financial Safety Net Crisis Management
Description: This Note assesses and makes recommendations regarding the different elements of the financial safety net in Iceland. The scope of the assessment includes the institutional arrangements for recovery, resolution, and crisis management; the oversight of banks’ recovery plans; the legal regime for bank bankruptcy and resolution; resolution planning by the authorities; the funding mechanism to support resolution; the deposit guarantee scheme; and the government authorities’ collective preparedness to deal with financial crises.
July 27, 2023
Canada: 2023 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; and Staff Report
Description: Growth is slowing and headline inflation falling rapidly, but, as in other countries, core inflation has been stickier and short-term expectations elevated in the context of still-tight labor markets. The financial system appears broadly resilient despite global banking stresses and ongoing mortgage resets at higher interest rates. With the world moving from one crisis to the next, risks to a highly open economy like Canada are substantial and compound domestic vulnerabilities related to inflation expectations, the housing market, and household leverage. The outlook thus remains uncertain, and shocks could push the economy into a mild recession.
July 27, 2023
Kingdom of the Netherlands—Aruba: 2023 Article IV Consultation Discussions-Press Release; and Staff Report
Description: The Aruban economy recovered to the pre-pandemic level of real GDP by 2022, supported by a robust rebound in tourism. The fiscal position has been improving but the debt-to-GDP ratio remains above the pre-pandemic level. The banking sector is well capitalized, liquid, and profitable. Restoring macroeconomic balance and bolstering medium-term growth are the principal policy tasks facing the authorities.
July 26, 2023
Norway: 2023 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; and Staff Report
Description: After strong performance in 2022, some deceleration in growth is expected, given geopolitical headwinds and tightening of financial conditions, including globally. Risks are balanced, and there is ample policy space in the short term to accommodate downside surprises. However, leveraging its strong fundamentals, Norway is encouraged to focus on the longer-term structural agenda, given soon-to-be-pressing issues with demographics.
July 26, 2023
Italy: 2023 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Italy
Description: Output grew robustly in 2022 despite surging energy prices on the post-pandemic recovery and fiscal stimulus. Inflation jumped and the current account fell into deficit. Employment reached new highs. Fiscal support and higher borrowing costs kept deficits large and public debt very high. Bank credit has begun to decline although loan quality continues to hold up. Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), supported by EU financial resources, aims to boost productivity and labor force participation, which would help offset the drag on growth from the declining working age population.
July 25, 2023
Burundi: Request for a 38-Month Arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Burundi
Description: Burundi is a fragile state with a history of political tensions and weak institutions. The country fell into a political and security crisis following late President Nkurunziza’s decision to run for a third term in 2015. The economic recovery that was underway in 2019 was slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic. More recently, the country’s economy has been weakened by spillovers of the war in Ukraine, with a double-digit inflation, and domestic shocks, including delayed rainfall and outbreaks of livestock fevers. Burundi has benefited from debt relief under the Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust (SDR 17.96 million), a disbursement under the Rapid Credit Facility (SDR 53.9 million, 35 percent of quota), and the 2021 SDR allocation (SDR 147.6 million). The 2022 Article IV Consultation was completed in July 2022, the first Article IV since 2014.
July 24, 2023
Republic of Congo: Republic of Congo: Third Review under the Three-year Arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility, Requests for Modification and Waivers of Nonobservance of Performance Criteria, and Financing Assurances Review-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for the Republic of Congo
Description: As declining oil prices and rising funding costs challenge Congo’s economic recovery, public debt remains high, and additional fiscal consolidation needs to compensate past fiscal slippages. Newly recognized domestic arrears and the temporary accumulation of new external arrears impede progresses made in debt repayment, implying that debt remains sustainable but “in distress”. Economic recovery will depend on regaining fiscal space, reducing debt levels, and continuing reforms promoting improvements in revenue generation, debt management, governance, and transparency. The second review of the three-year Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement (SDR 324 million, 200 percent of quota) that was concluded by the IMF Executive Board on February 6, 2023, provided support for this process.
July 21, 2023
Tuvalu: 2023 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Tuvalu
Description: The 2023 Article IV Consultation discusses that a successful vaccination strategy allowed Tuvalu to lift coronavirus disease (COVID) containment measures at the end of 2022, but the economic cost of the pandemic has been significant. Real gross domestic product growth was -4.3 percent in 2020, with at-the-border containment measures leading to delays in much-needed infrastructure projects. Growth is expected to accelerate as the lifting of COVID restrictions leads to the resumption of construction activity, shipping bottlenecks ease and the trade and hospitality sectors recover. Tuvalu is among the countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change; its remote economy is dominated by the public sector; and its revenue base is narrow, with reliance on donor commitments further complicating fiscal planning. The economic setback due to the pandemic makes addressing these significant structural challenges more difficult. The report recommends promoting fiscal sustainability and building buffers by mobilizing revenues and rationalizing current expenditures.
July 20, 2023
Kingdom of Lesotho: 2023 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; and Staff Report
Description: The government-driven growth model remains a challenge for sustainable and inclusive growth in Lesotho, displacing resources from the private sector. Growth and inflation are subject to the impact of the war in Ukraine, sluggish regional performance, climate shocks, and longstanding structural issues including governance and corruption vulnerabilities, limited financial access, and fragile public financial management. The recently-elected government is prioritizing fiscal consolidation on the back of windfall transfers from the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) that have helped alleviate pressures on both financing and reserves.