IMF Staff Country Reports

Monetary and fiscal easing, together with specific interventions under the Economic Rescue Plan, helped contain the immediate impact of the global crisis, but private sector recovery remains nascent. Inflation, persistently high during 2009 owing to large increases in food prices, has declined to single-digit levels. Revenues continue to underperform relative to the budget, resulting in a modest scaling back in expenditure to limit deterioration of the fiscal deficit. Monetary policy has produced a low interest rate environment, but private sector credit growth has slowed sharply.