Download or read book Guatemala 2021 Article IV Consultation Press Release Staff Report and Statement by the Executive Director for Guatemala written by International Monetary and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2021-06-11 with total page 69 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Guatemala has managed to keep infections and deaths moderate during the pandemic. The economic impact of COVID-19 has been mild given an early reopening of the economy, unprecedented policy support, and resilient remittances and exports. However, despite large-scale government interventions to support households, poverty and malnutrition have deteriorated following COVID-19 and the two major hurricanes battering Guatemala last November.
Download or read book Panama 2021 Article IV Consultation Press Release Staff Report and Statement by the Executive Director for Panama written by International Monetary and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2021-07-30 with total page 82 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After over two decades of unprecedented economic expansion, Panama’s economy contracted sharply in 2020 amidst challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic. As conditions rapidly deteriorated, Panama requested financial support under the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) for 100 percent of quota equivalent to US$0.5 billion (SDR 0.4 billion) to address immediate balance of payments needs, which the IMF Executive Board approved on April 15, 2020. Subsequently, uncertainties magnified, and Panama requested a two-year arrangement under the Precautionary and Liquidity Line (PLL) for 500 percent of quota, equivalent to US$2.7 billion (SDR 1.9 billion), as insurance against extreme external shocks, which was approved by the IMF Executive Board on January 19, 2021.
Download or read book El Salvador 2021 Article IV Consultation Press Release Staff Report and Statement by the Executive Director for El Salvador written by International Monetary and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2022-01-28 with total page 114 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The pandemic interrupted ten years of growth, but El Salvador is rebounding quickly. Robust external demand, resilient remittances, and a sound management of the pandemic—with the help of a disbursement under the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) (SDR287.2 million or US$389 million) approved in April 2020—are supporting a strong recovery. Persistent fiscal deficits and high debt service are leading to large and increasing gross fiscal financing needs.
Download or read book Dominican Republic 2021 Article IV Consultation Press Release Staff Report and Statement by the Executive Director for Dominican Republic written by International Monetary and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2021-07-28 with total page 83 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The pandemic interrupted a prolonged growth spell that made the Dominican Republic one of the most dynamic economies in the region amid strong growth, macroeconomic stability and improved social outcomes. This built resilience to the shock—including by maintaining access to markets—and allowed a decisive policy response to address the health emergency, support growth, and protect the vulnerable.
Download or read book Guatemala written by International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept. and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2018-06-08 with total page 73 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This 2018 Article IV Consultation highlights that a sound monetary policy management in Guatemala has helped keep inflation expectations firmly anchored. Fiscal deficits have remained at decade lows on the back of low debt tolerance and inadequate budgetary execution. Terms of trade gains and an upsurge in remittances inflows moved the current account into a sizable surplus. The financial system is sound and well-regulated while vulnerabilities seem manageable. Growth performance nevertheless falls shorts of the rates needed to achieve Guatemala’s aspirations to meaningfully lift the living standards of its citizens. Near-term growth prospects remain subdued, at 3.2 percent in 2018 and 3.6 percent in 2019.
Download or read book Guatemala written by International Monetary and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2023-05-24 with total page 102 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Guatemala has weathered many crises well. Its 's economy has proved resilient, building on a solid track-record of prudent policies--low fiscal deficits and debt-to-GDP ratio, and high international reserves--and strong remittance inflows. After a strong rebound in 2021, Guatemala's economy has been slowing down--with GDP growth halving to a solid 4.1 percent in 2022. Inflation increased in 2022 but peaked in February 2023 (9.9 percent, year-on-year) to drop to 8.71 percent in March 2023. At the same time, public investment tends to be under-executed, poverty remains high, and tax revenue is weak, while substantial institutional, investment, and social gaps and governance weaknesses hinder progress. Addressing these requires higher broad-based and inclusive growth and further progress in the reform agenda. The authorities' goal to attain investment grade and attract foreign investment could unlock opportunities. General elections are due June 25, 2023 (the second round on August 20, if needed).
Download or read book Improving livelihoods and reducing outmigration from the Northern Triangle in Central America The potential role of cash transfers in expanded social safety nets written by Diaz-Bonilla, Eugenio and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2022-05-18 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 2019 almost 45 million immigrants lived in the United States, or about 13.7% of the total population, approaching the record high of 14.8% in 1890. Of that total, about 77% are lawful residents (either nat-uralized, permanent residents, or temporary residents), and the difference (about 23% or 11 million per-sons) are illegal immigrants. Both in the case of legal and illegal immigrants, the largest percentage is from Mexico (24% of the legal immigrants and somewhat less than 50% of the illegal ones, but those percentages have been declining since the mid-2000s). About 20% of the illegal immigration living in the US in 2017 came from Central America, principally El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala (Ameri-can Immigration Council, 2021 and Passel and D’Vera Cohn, 2019). Overall, these three countries are the origin of about 3.3 million immigrants (legal and illegal) in the US in 2019 (Babich and Batalova, 2021).
Download or read book Peru 2022 Article IV Consultation Press Release Staff Report and Statement by the Executive Director for Peru written by International Monetary and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2022-05-11 with total page 93 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After being hit very hard by the pandemic in 2020, both in terms of health and economic outcomes, Peru experienced an equally strong economic rebound in 2021. A new administration was inaugurated in July 2021 with a program focused on reducing inequality and improving social conditions, but limited support from Congress and lack of cohesion heightened political uncertainty. While real GDP surpassed its pre-pandemic level by 2021, labor force participation and total employment have not fully recovered yet. Poverty increased significantly in 2020 and, despite some improvement in 2021, remains higher than in 2019. On May 27, 2021, the IMF Executive Board completed the mid-term review of Peru’s continued qualification under the Flexible Credit Line (FCL) arrangement.
Download or read book Honduras The impact of COVID 19 and other shocks and policy implications Final report written by Diaz-Bonilla, Eugenio and published by Intl Food Policy Res Inst. This book was released on 2022-09-12 with total page 109 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Two previous reports (Díaz Bonilla, Laborde and Piñeiro, 2021, and Diaz-Bonilla, Flores, Paz, Piñeiro, and Zandstra, 2021) covered the evolution and impacts of the pandemic on food systems in Honduras until the time of their writings (which together cover from the start of the pandemic in early 2020 until October 2021). This third report concludes the assessment of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on food systems in Honduras, recapitulating the previous ones and updating the analysis until the end of May 2022. This country and its food systems, however, have been also affected by other events since the pandemic started in early 2020, such as the tropical storms Eta and Iota in November 2020. Subsequently, in 2021 the strong world economic rebound due to expansionary fiscal and monetary policies in the USA and other countries, generated strains on value chains, leading to increases in transportation costs and the prices of food, energy and fertilizers. In the case of agricultural products, those increases were compounded by adverse climate events in some important producing areas, particularly in South America. Finally, the Russian-Ukraine Conflict (RUC) on February 24, 2022, has added further pressures on prices of energy, fertilizers, and some food products (such as wheat and vegetable oils). Therefore, the specific impact of the pandemic on food systems in Honduras has been interacting with the other developments mentioned. From the point of view of policymakers, they need to respond to the overall impact of the conditions affecting the population, whatever the converging main causes may be. Therefore, this final report, while emphasizing those aspects linked to the pandemic will also discuss the overall conditions in Honduras, affected by those many factors. This report is structured as follows. First, it summarizes the main policy responses, costs, and financing related to the COVID-19 shock. Second, it brings up to date the evolution of the pandemic, using different indicators. Third, it updates the evolution of key economic and nutritional variables. Fourth, there is a brief discussion of the implications of RUC for food systems. Fifth, the report continues with a more specific analysis of the evolution of some food value chains that are central to food consumption in Honduras. The next section discusses policy considerations for health, poverty and nutrition, and food value chains, in light of the updated analysis. A final section concludes.
Download or read book Panama written by International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept. and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2023-03-24 with total page 97 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Panama was hit hard by the covid-19 pandemic, but the recovery has been strong. GDP expanded by 15.3 percent in 2021 and a projected 9 percent in 2022. Inflation is low compared with other countries, in part the result of temporary subsidies on fuel and food. The fiscal deficit declined from 101⁄2 percent of GDP in 2020 to 4 percent of GDP in 2022 and central government gross debt is estimated at 60 percent of GDP at end-2022. Banks are, on average, well capitalized and liquid. As insurance against external shocks, the IMF Executive Board approved a two-year Precautionary and Liquidity Line (PLL) arrangement for 500 percent of quota, equivalent to US$2.7 billion (SDR 1.884 billion), on January 19, 2021.
Download or read book Tunisia written by International Monetary Fund. Middle East and Central Asia Dept. and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2021-02-26 with total page 97 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The pandemic aggravated Tunisia’s long-standing vulnerabilities stemming from persistent fiscal and external imbalances, rising debt, and contingent liabilities from inefficient state-owned enterprises. The crisis is expected to induce the largest contraction in real GDP since independence. The authorities’ targeted response together with higher outlays on wages widened the fiscal deficit. A second Covid-19 wave is underway. The authorities are securing 500,000 doses to start a first campaign of vaccinations in February and are aiming to secure more doses to vaccinate half of the population starting in April–May. Staff expects GDP growth to rebound modestly in 2021, but it could take years before activity returns to pre-crisis levels, especially if large imbalances were not addressed and key reforms delayed. Downside risks dominate and recent protests highlight the level of social tensions, aggravated by Covid-19 restrictions, and particularly among the youth.
Download or read book Eastern Caribbean Currency Union written by International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept. and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2022-07-29 with total page 91 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With ECCU economies slowly emerging from the pandemic with scars, the impact of the war in Ukraine is a setback to the nascent recovery. Higher food and energy prices, amid ongoing supply disruptions and intra-regional transportation bottlenecks, are raising inflation, eroding income, lowering output growth, worsening fiscal and external positions, and threatening food and energy security. As a result, inflation is expected to hover over 51⁄2 percent in 2022. Real GDP is projected to grow by 71⁄2 percent in 2022, leaving output still well below the pre-pandemic level. Fiscal deficits are projected to remain sizable, given continued pandemic- and disaster-related spending and temporary support to address rising living costs, thereby keeping gross financing needs and public debt at elevated levels in the near term. The financial system has remained broadly stable so far, with adequate capital and liquidity buffers, but nonperforming loans remain high and could rise further following the expiration of the ECCB’s loan moratoria program. The outlook is subject to large downside risks, primarily from further increases in commodity prices and new COVID variants amid vaccine hesitancy, in addition to the ever-present threat of natural disasters.
Download or read book Guyana written by International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept. and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2022-09-27 with total page 102 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following the pandemic-induced recession in 2020, economic growth recovered in 2021, with non-oil GDP growth reaching 4.6 percent, despite being negatively impacted by floods. Inflation increased markedly since 2021 owing to the floods and supply-side disruptions, as well as continually rising fuel and food prices. Oil production increased and will ramp up substantially over the medium term.
Download or read book Arab Republic of Egypt 2021 Article IV Consultation Second Review Under the Stand By Arrangement Press Release Staff Report and Statement by the Executive Director for the Arab Republic of Egypt written by International Monetary and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2021-07-22 with total page 108 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The economic and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic over the past year has been well-managed by the authorities. Timely and prudent fiscal and monetary easing shielded the economy from the full brunt of the crisis, while alleviating the health and social impact of the shock. Sound economic policies helped deliver macroeconomic stabilization, safeguard debt sustainability, and preserve investor confidence. While growth is expected to rebound in FY2021/22, the outlook is still clouded by uncertainty related to the pandemic and the pace of vaccinations. High public debt and large gross financing needs leave Egypt vulnerable to external shocks or changes in financial market conditions for EMs. Near-term fiscal and monetary policies should thus continue to support the recovery without accumulating undue imbalances.
Download or read book Timor Leste 2021 Article IV Consultation Press Release Staff Report and Statement by the Executive Director for Timor Leste written by International Monetary and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2021-07-14 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although Timor-Leste has made considerable progress in many areas since its independence in 2002, it faces significant medium-term challenges. The nation has pressing development needs, young institutions, and is highly dependent on oil. Oil revenues from active fields, which have been the main source of funding for government spending, are drying up. The non-oil private sector economy remains underdeveloped and lack of good jobs and high youth unemployment are serious concerns.
Download or read book Nicaragua written by International Monetary and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2023-01-27 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Substantial pre-crisis buffers (primarily government deposits), prudent policies, and official external financial assistance helped Nicaragua recover well from a protracted downturn during 2018-2020 caused by the socio-political crisis of 2018, two major hurricanes in 2020, and the pandemic. Real gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 10.3 percent in 2021 and is projected to grow by 4 percent in 2022, despite hurricane Julia that affected the country in October. Inflation on an annual basis reached 11.4 percent in November 2022, mostly due to increases in import prices. The authorities introduced fiscal measures to mitigate the impact of the increases in oil and wheat prices, and also increased the reference interest rate. Bank deposits are growing strongly and reached the pre-crisis level (in Córdobas). Gross international reserves have doubled since end-2018 (to over US$4 billion; about 6 months of imports, excluding maquila).
Download or read book El Salvador written by International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept. and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2019-05-23 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This 2019 Article IV Consultation discusses that structural reforms, strengthened policy frameworks and the ongoing smooth political transition have laid the foundations for sustained growth in El Salvador. The discussions focused on policies that build on these achievements and address fiscal vulnerabilities, boost long-term growth, and strengthen the governance, anticorruption and Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism frameworks. Continued US dollar appreciation led to a significant decline in inflation and widening of the current account deficit. The authorities agreed that debt would continue to drift upward in the absence of measures, and that weaker-than-expected global growth could have a negative impact on the domestic economy. The authorities emphasized their commitment to guarantee a smooth political transition by sharing information with the new administration and by inviting the Audit Office to oversee the handover process. It is recommended to improve the governance and anticorruption frameworks by increasing the fiscal transparency of the 2020 budget laws, strengthening audit and spending controls, and promptly implementing electronic invoicing.
