IMF Country Focus

• For Japan's Economy, Now Is the Time to Step Up Reforms

  July 31, 2017

  

  Japan’s economy is expected to grow again this year—at 1.3 percent—thanks to a continued pickup in trade and temporary fiscal support. But a rapidly aging population and a shrinking workforce mean that the country will need to speed up reforms to boost wages, productivity, and growth, said the IMF in its annual review of the Japanese economy.

• Italy: Reforms Needed For Stronger Growth and Stability

  July 27, 2017

  

  Italy has started to grow in recent years. But the recovery has been too weak to help claw back the ground lost from subpar growth that started well before the global crisis. In its latest economic health check of Italy, the IMF suggests a package of measures that simultaneously supports growth and reduces debt.
  

• Ten Ways to Expand U.S. Growth

  July 27, 2017

  

  With the economy at full employment, the United States will need to gradually remove both fiscal and monetary support, while intensifying efforts to address multiple constraints on its medium-term growth prospects, the IMF says in its latest economic report.
  

• Euro Area: There Is Recovery, But Reforms Are Needed

  July 25, 2017

  

  Euro area recovery has strengthened over the last year, bringing with it more jobs and opportunities. But even as the zone's economy gathers momentum, it still faces the hurdles of high public debt in some states, a lack of convergence in income levels among countries, and the need to reduce imbalances that built up before the crisis. 

• Uganda's Infrastructure Investment Promise

  July 19, 2017

  

  Drought, slow credit growth, and indirect effects of regional conflict are taking their toll, but infrastructure and oil sector investment could boost growth over the next 3–5 years, said the IMF in its annual assessment of the Ugandan economy.

• Unlocking Canada's Future Growth Through Infrastructure

  July 13, 2017

  

  While the Canadian economy has regained momentum, the outlook is less upbeat. In its annual assessment of the Canadian economy, the IMF said higher infrastructure spending can spur short-term and long-term growth.

• Russia: Five Reforms to Increase Productivity, Diversify Growth

  July 10, 2017

  

  With Russia exiting a two-year long recession after a recent crisis, the time has come to implement necessary reforms to increase productivity and foster new sources of growth. Here are five reforms suggested by the latest economic health check.

• Germany: Spend More At Home

  July 7, 2017

  

  Germany’s economy received yet another bill of good health, with some advice on how to keep fit, after the annual economic checkup from the IMF. IMF Country Focus sat down with Enrica Detragiache, the outgoing mission chief for Germany, to discuss the findings.

• Peru's Future Growth Can be Lifted Through Structural Reforms

  June 28, 2017

  

  After sustained improvements in economic and social indicators since the turn of the century, Peru has its eyes set on becoming a high-income nation, but achieving this goal will require additional reforms, the IMF said in its latest assessment of the country.
  

• Mongolia Turns the Corner with $5.5 Billion IMF-Led Financing Package

  May 31, 2017

  

  Mongolia is facing hard times because of the commodity price slump, slowing demand in key export markets, and past policy mistakes. But the country now has a chance to turn things around, as the government pushes much-needed reforms with IMF support.

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