Country Reports
2023
April 11, 2023
St. Lucia: Technical Assistance Report-Remote National Accounts Mission
Description: A remote mission to the National Accounts Department (NAD) of Saint Lucia supported the development of rebased estimates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by expenditure. The mission compiled a candidate methodology for all components of the expenditure, covering current and constant price series for both annual and quarterly estimates of GDP. The new estimates will be benchmarked from the last Supply and Use Table from 2016. The method will replace the previous approach which was only compiled annually in current prices – which was last published in 2018.
April 5, 2023
Sweden: Financial Sector Assessment Program–Technical Note on Cybersecurity Risk Supervision and Oversight
Description: Sweden's financial sector is highly digitalized and interconnected, and related technological developments heighten cyber threats and vulnerabilities. The cyber threat landscape has evolved, with many Swedish financial institutions victims of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. Wider, more destructive attacks are likely in the near future.
April 5, 2023
Sweden: Financial Sector Assessment Program–Technical Note on Central Bank Digital Currency and Fintech
Description: The Swedish economy is characterized by high adoption of digital services in the financial sector, as shown by a thriving Fintech sector, and the ongoing analysis on whether to issue a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). This technical note looks at the systemic risks stemming from the potential issuance of CBDC in Sweden, as well as the growing significance of the Fintech sector. This note does not evaluate the benefits of CBDC, or the Fintech sector.
April 5, 2023
Sweden: Financial Sector Assessment Program–Technical Note on Oversight and Supervision of Financial Market Infrastructures and Selected Issues in Payment Systems
Description: The Swedish financial market infrastructure (FMI) is modern, stable, well-developed, and subject to regulation and to the CPMI-IOSCO Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures (PFMI).
April 5, 2023
Sweden: Financial Sector Assessment Program–Technical Note on Supervision and Disclosure of Climate-Related Risks
Description: Swedish banks are in general mainly exposed to the effects of climate change through loans that are collateralized by real estate properties and lending to high-emission industries.
April 3, 2023
Argentina: Fourth Review Under the Extended Arrangement Under the Extended Fund Facility, Requests for Modification of Performance Criteria, Waiver for Nonobservance of Performance Criteria, and Financing Assurances Review-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Argentina
Description: Implementation of more prudent macroeconomic policies in the second half of 2022 supported a moderation in inflation and improvements of fiscal and external balances through end-2022. However, against the backdrop of still large macroeconomic imbalances and challenges from an increasingly severe drought, the nascent improvements in inflation and reserve coverage have proved evasive. Meanwhile, policy setbacks have contributed to recent underperformance and added to uncertainties about the political resolve to adhere to the program ahead of the elections. The authorities reaffirmed their commitments to implement the program, which they continue to view as the key anchor for policy making. In this context, the review discussions focused on strengthening policies to secure delivery of key underlying program objectives, and on how best to adapt to an increasingly complex environment, while avoiding building future vulnerabilities.
March 31, 2023
Ukraine: Request for an Extended Arrangement Under the Extended Fund Facility and Review of Program Monitoring with Board Involvement-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Ukraine
Description: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues to have a devastating economic and social impact. Active combat is concentrated in eastern and southern Ukraine, while continued attacks on critical energy infrastructure had a severe social toll over the winter. Civilian casualties continue to rise, and over a third of the population has been displaced. The war has had a profound impact on the economy: activity contracted by 30 percent in 2022, a large swathe of the country’s capital stock has been destroyed, and poverty is on the rise. The authorities have nevertheless managed to maintain overall macroeconomic and financial stability, thanks to skillful policymaking and substantial external support.
March 31, 2023
St. Kitts and Nevis: 2023 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for St. Kitts and Nevis
Description: Economic growth rebounded strongly in 2022 despite global headwinds. GDP is estimated to have grown by 9 percent in 2022 after contracting 14.5 percent in 2020 and 0.9 percent in 2021. The lifting of all COVID-related travel restrictions in August sparked a strong rebound in the tourism sector and across the economy. Yet economic activity is not back to pre-pandemic levels. Inflation picked up, increasing from 1.9 percent in 2021 to 3.8 percent in 2022, reaching the highest level in a decade. The authorities’ proactive policy response, facilitated by the fiscal buffers accumulated from a decade of prudent fiscal policy, helped shelter domestic prices from high global energy and food prices. These measures nonetheless took a heavy toll on fiscal accounts in 2022. The primary balance ex-CBI revenue and land buybacks, an indicator of the underlying fiscal stance, deteriorated to a deficit of 17 percent of GDP (vs. 15 percent in 2021). Large CBI inflows in 2022 helped finance this expansion, keeping public debt below the ECCU regional target of 60 percent of GDP. The current account deficit is estimated to have narrowed in 2022, supported by tourism recovery.
March 30, 2023
Japan: 2023 Article IV consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Japan
Description: Japan is navigating the recovery from the pandemic and the implications of the war in Ukraine. COVID-19 related restrictions have been gradually reduced since 2022, with border reopening last October. Headline inflation has recorded levels not seen in four decades.