Download or read book Spain 2021 Article IV Consultation Press Release Staff Report and Statement by the Executive Director for Spain written by International Monetary and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2022-02-16 with total page 88 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Spanish economy is recovering from the deep recession caused by the COVID pandemic and employment is already above its pre-pandemic level. A highly successful vaccination campaign helped limit the impact of the recent wave of infections on hospitalizations and economic activity. Output is expected to return to its pre-pandemic level by the end of 2022. However, there is significant uncertainty around the recovery path related to the evolution of the pandemic and the duration of global supply bottlenecks. The pace of absorption and the effectiveness of use of Next Generation EU (NGEU) funds will also affect growth in the coming years. In the near term, the key policy challenge is to continue to provide targeted pandemic support while facilitating resource reallocation and a transformation to a greener and more inclusive economy.
Download or read book Malawi 2021 Article IV Consultation Press Release Staff Report and Statement by the Executive Director for Malawi written by International Monetary and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2021-12-20 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Malawi, a fragile state with one of the highest incidences of poverty, food insecurity and frequent weather-related shocks, has been severely affected by the pandemic. There are signs of gradual recovery and daily COVID-19 positive cases remain relatively low: real GDP growth in 2021 is projected to pick up to 2.2 percent from 0.9 percent in 2020 helped by a good harvest. However, inflation is expected to increase to 9 percent in 2021 from 8.6 percent in 2020, driven by increases in prices of fuel, fertilizer and food, leaving real per capita growth in the negative region.
Download or read book Spain written by International Monetary Fund. European Dept. and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2023-01-19 with total page 91 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Two years after the pandemic, the Spanish economy is facing new headwinds from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Activity has been resilient so far, supported by a strong rebound in tourism and other services and timely policy support measures. However, elevated global energy and food prices, lower trading partners’ demand, deteriorating consumer and business confidence, and rising interest rates have slowed the recovery of output. Growth is projected to moderate to 1.1 percent in 2023. Risks to the outlook include tighter-than-expected financial conditions, weaker global demand, and further increases in European energy prices.
Download or read book Principality of Andorra 2021 Article IV Consultation Press Release Staff Report and Statement by the Executive Director for Principality of Andorra written by International Monetary and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2021-06-11 with total page 51 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Andorra, the IMF’s newest member since October 2020, participated in its first Article IV consultation with a commitment to further enhance transparency. Tourism and banking-related services dominate economic activity in the euroized economy. The country enjoys long-standing political stability, a good track-record of fiscal discipline, a gender-balanced work force, and internationally competitive ski resorts. The authorities are managing the pandemic well with universal testing and expanded hospital capacity that kept fatality rates very low despite high case-loads. The testing strategy helped Andorra implement more targeted internal restrictions than in neighboring countries. At the same time, emergency fiscal measures stabilized real incomes and supported firms.
Download or read book Germany 2021 Article IV Consultation Press Release Staff Report and Statement by the Executive Director for Germany written by International Monetary and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2021-07-15 with total page 78 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Germany’s economy contracted by just under 5 percent in 2020, outperforming most European peers. But renewed waves of infections and associated lockdowns caused economic activity to plunge again in the first quarter of this year. While the pace of mass vaccination has picked up and the economy has started to reopen, the recovery path is beset with risks, particularly with respect to the progress of the pandemic and supply shortages in major industries. The authorities have maintained appropriately accommodative fiscal and financial policies, and most measures supporting households and firms have been extended through 2021.
Download or read book Turkey 2021 Article IV Consultation Press Release Staff Report and Statement by the Executive Director for Turkey written by International Monetary and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2021-06-11 with total page 95 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Turkey, as in other countries, the human and economic toll of the COVID-19 pandemic has been severe. Thousands of lives have been tragically lost and many livelihoods compromised. The initial policy response to the pandemic—and subsequent sharp growth rebound—set Turkey apart from its peers. Rapid monetary and credit expansion and large liquidity support meant that Turkey was among the few countries to experience positive economic growth in 2020. But these policies also aggravated pre-existing economic and financial vulnerabilities. Higher inflation, increased dollarization, and a large shift in the current account position increased pressure on the lira and gave rise to heavy foreign exchange sales, which led in turn to steep reserve declines from already-low levels. A policy shift in late 2020—mainly towards tighter and more transparent monetary policy and slower credit growth—was both welcome and necessary. But the durability and depth of the shift were called into question in March 2021, following the change in central bank leadership, as the lira weakened markedly and interest rate spreads widened.
Download or read book Italy 2021 Article IV Consultation Press Release Staff Report and Statement by the Executive Director for Italy written by International Monetary and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2021-06-02 with total page 83 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The pandemic dealt a severe blow to the Italian people and their economy. GDP fell by nearly 9 percent in 2020, with much larger drops for contact-intensive services. Public and corporate debt increased strongly and preexisting vulnerabilities have likely worsened. The government is prioritizing resolving the health emergency and transforming the economy to lift productivity, improve social outcomes and strengthen resilience to future shocks and structural change. The large National Recovery and Resilience Plan—partly financed by sizable Next Generation EU resources—will be used to increase physical and social infrastructure. Outlook. GDP is expected to recover strongly in 2021–22 and to grow well-above trend over the medium term, supported by investment spending. Nonetheless, economic scarring could be sizable. The two-sided risks relate to how the pandemic progresses, the efficiency of investment spending and the extent of savings drawdown, with large costs associated with the downside.
Download or read book Luxembourg 2021 Article IV Consultation Press Release Staff Report and Statement by the Executive Director for Luxembourg written by International Monetary and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2021-05-25 with total page 79 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The economic impact of the pandemic has been much milder than initially foreseen, still the outlook remains challenging. The economy, dominated by financial services, adapted quickly to telework and benefited from unprecedented policy support, both domestically and globally. Uncertainty is unusually high, dominated by the virus dynamics in the short term, with downside risks relating to a sharp rise in global risk premia, deglobalization trends, and changes in international taxation.
Download or read book Cyprus 2022 Article IV Consultation Press Release Staff Report and Statement by the Executive Director for Cyprus written by International Monetary and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2022-06 with total page 79 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cyprus is highly exposed to the fallout from the war in Ukraine through trade with Russia. This new challenge comes against the background of the lingering effects of the pandemic and financial vulnerabilities dating from the 2012–13 crisis. Growth is projected to slow from 51⁄2 percent in 2021 to around 2 percent this year. Recovery will regain momentum in 2023, and is projected to continue in the medium term, supported by investments and structural reforms in the Recovery and Resilience Plan.
Download or read book Republic of San Marino 2021 Article IV Consultation Press Release Staff Report and Statement by the Executive Director for the Republic of San Marino written by International Monetary and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2021-11-23 with total page 70 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: San Marino entered the pandemic with substantial vulnerabilities and still struggling from the consequences of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). However, the economy has shown significant resilience supported by a timely and targeted policy response. Fiscal support was substantially scaled up after external borrowing was secured, including through a debut Eurobond. The banking system was rationalized, partly capitalized, its liquidity substantially improved, and a strategy is being adopted to address exceptionally high nonperforming loans (NPLs). Some of these measures, while effective, have increased official public debt substantially.
Download or read book Montenegro 2021 Article IV Consultation Press Release Staff Report and Statement by the Executive Director for Montenegro written by International Monetary and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2022-02-24 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: COVID-19 hit the economy hard, but a strong recovery is underway. Public debt, already elevated before the pandemic, has increased further. The government has embarked on a reform program ‘Europe Now’, which aims to arrest outward migration through a sharp minimum wage increase, labor tax wedge reduction, and the introduction of a progressive tax code. The financial sector appears to have withstood the COVID-19 shock well.
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 Bolivia 2021 Article IV Consultation Press Release Staff Report and Statement by the Executive Director for Bolivia written by International Monetary and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2021-08-04 with total page 61 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following the October 2020 election, the new administration moved to tackle the devastating human and economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The economy shows signs of recovery from its 8.8 percent contraction in 2020. However, fiscal imbalances have increased and international reserves continue to fall. On February 12, Bolivia repurchased the 240.1 million SDR purchase under the Fund’s Rapid Financing Instrument (that was approved by the Fund’s Executive Board in April 2020).
Download or read book Republic of Poland 2021 Article IV Consultation Press Release Staff Report and Statement by the Executive Director for the Republic of Poland written by International Monetary and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2022-02-24 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Polish economy has rebounded strongly, with policy actions limiting the damage from the pandemic-induced recession by supporting employment and avoiding unnecessary bankruptcies. While the pandemic continues to take a toll on lives, the economy has been less impacted by successive waves of the pandemic.
Download or read book Greece 2022 Article IV Consultation Press Release Staff Report and Statement by the Executive Director for Greece written by International Monetary and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2022-06-21 with total page 82 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Greece has weathered the pandemic well, with a considerably stronger-than-expected recovery. Reforms progressed in several areas, including digitalization, privatization, improving the fiscal policy mix, and bank balance sheet repair. Greece finalized its early repayment to the IMF on April 4 and is expected to graduate from the quarterly European Institutions’ Enhanced Surveillance framework on schedule by August 2022. Despite the adverse impact of the war in Ukraine, growth is projected to remain robust at 3.5 percent this year. High energy prices are expected to push up average inflation to 6.1 percent. Public debt is on a downward trajectory and rollover risks appear manageable. The external position last year was moderately weaker than that consistent with fundamentals and desirable policies.
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.
