Country Reports
2014
December 22, 2014
Seychelles: First Review Under the Extended Arrangement and Request for Modification of Performance Criteria
Description: Program implementation and economic fundamentals continue to be strong, but the external position weakened in mid-2014. Projected growth for 2014 has been revised down to 2.8 percent from 3.7 percent, due to weaker demand for Seychelles’ two main exports—tourism and canned tuna. At the same time, strong growth in personal earnings and private sector credit have fueled a surge in imports, putting further pressure on the balance of payments. As a result, the exchange rate depreciated an estimated 11 percent in nominal effective terms from early August to late-October.
December 22, 2014
Pakistan: Fourth and Fifth Reviews Under the Extended Arrangement and Request for Waivers of Nonobservance of Performance Criteria
Description: A 36 month, SDR 4,393 million (425 percent of quota) Extended Arrangement under the EFF was approved by the Executive Board on September 4, 2013 and the third review was completed on June 27, 2014, with a total of SDR 1,440 million disbursed. Fifth and sixth tranches totaling of SDR 720 million will be available upon the completion of this review.
December 22, 2014
Côte d’Ivoire: Sixth Review Under the Extended Credit Facility Arrangement and Requests for Waiver of Nonobservance of Performance Criterion, Augmentation of Access, and Twelve-Month Extension of the Current Arrangement
Description: All end-June performance criteria and indicative targets under the ECF arrangement were met, and all structural benchmarks were completed, albeit with minor delays. However, there was a nonobservance of the continuous performance criterion on the ceiling on new nonconcessional external debt in July with the issuance of the US$750 million Eurobond (exceeding the US$500 million program ceiling).
Notes: Also available in French
December 22, 2014
Uganda: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper: Progress Report
Description: This Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper on Uganda discusses that the National Development Plan (NDP), Uganda’s current Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, was introduced in 2010/11 and originally intended to cover five fiscal years, until 2014/15. The NDP emphasises the need to accelerate economic growth to create jobs, increase average income and provide the financial resources required to expand public investment and service delivery. However, several macroeconomic and implementation challenges have reduced infrastructure investment, economic growth and job creation below the levels targeted by the plan. The key strategic objectives of the plan will be maintained over the next two years, with focus placed on strengthening public investment management, creating fiscal space for infrastructure projects and enhancing the development of practical skills among the labour force. The recalibrated macroeconomic framework outlined in Section IV will help guide fiscal policy and economic management as the next National Development Plan is being finalised. NDP II will be launched before the 2016/17 fiscal year and will guide budgetary priorities and programmes over the medium term.
December 19, 2014
Georgia: Financial System Stability Assessment
Description: This paper discusses findings of the Financial System Stability Assessment for Georgia. Georgia has weathered several shocks, but still faces a number of important risks. The economy has withstood well the conflict with Russia, the global financial crisis, and domestic political uncertainty. Significant steps have been taken to strengthen banking regulation and supervision, which exhibit a very high degree of compliance with international standards. The National Bank of Georgia has also introduced an advanced risk-based supervisory regime while maintaining a conservative approach aimed at detecting vulnerabilities at an early stage, and allocating supervisory resources in the most efficient and effective manner.
December 18, 2014
Denmark: Financial Sector Assessment Program, Macroprudential Policies: Technical Note
Description: This technical note discusses significance of macroprudential policies for Denmark. Macroprudential policy seeks to contain the buildup of macrofinancial imbalances associated with credit booms and asset price bubbles, a function which is particularly important in Denmark, where the space for monetary policy action is limited. This note provides an analysis of existing frameworks used in Denmark for identifying systemic risk of both structural and cyclical nature. The note also suggests additional tools that the authorities could use to further enhance their capacity to evaluate systemic risks.
December 18, 2014
Denmark: Detailed Assessment of Observance of the Basel Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision
Description: This paper discusses key findings of the Detailed Assessment of Observance of the Basel Core Principles for Effective Banking Supervision (BCPs) on Denmark. Denmark has a high level of compliance with the BCPs. The Danish Financial Supervisory Authority has appropriate legal authority to carry out supervision effectively, and its risk-based approach has focused well on the key elements of risk within its banking system. The compliance with the credit-risk related principles is uniformly high and the provisioning policies have been adequately enhanced. Its overall supervision is also considered sound, although resource constraints result in an extended supervision cycle and some risk areas receiving insufficient attention.
December 18, 2014
Denmark: Crisis Management, Bank Resolution, and Financial Sector Safety Nets: Technical Note
Description: This paper discusses findings and recommendations made in the Financial Sector Assessment Program Update for Denmark in the areas of crisis management, bank resolution, and financial-sector safety nets. The Danish resolution scheme has allowed the authorities to deal with mounting distress while minimizing costs for taxpayers. The scheme has enabled the orderly winding-up of the affected banks by providing for a transfer of all assets, and part of the liabilities, to the Financial Stability Company or third-party acquirers. The authorities are encouraged to further strengthen the resolution framework in line with the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive and emerging international good practices.
December 18, 2014
Denmark: Detailed Assessment of Observance of the Insurance Core Principles
Description: This paper discusses findings of the Detailed Assessment of Observance of the Insurance Core Principles on Denmark. Insurance regulation in Denmark has a good level of compliance with the Insurance Core Principles. A particular strength of the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority’s approach is its close focus on key risks in the sector and its readiness to require action by companies to address vulnerabilities. Regular, even daily monitoring of market risk sensitivities is carried out on life insurers’ balance sheets. In nonlife insurance, regular testing of a number of key performance ratios helps to highlight potential weaknesses and to support early intervention. There is comprehensive oversight of the reinsurance programs of the nonlife companies in particular.
December 18, 2014
Denmark: Stress Testing the Banking, Insurance, and Pension Sectors: Technical Note
Description: This Technical Note on Stress Testing the Banking, Insurance, and Pension Sectors on Denmark discusses that since the beginning of the global financial crisis, Danish banks have substantially increased their capital buffers. The banks’ capital buffers provide for substantial loss absorbing capacity in case macro-financial conditions deteriorate. Under the most severe stress scenario, the aggregate Tier 1 ratio of large Danish banks drops by almost 4 percentage points, but the solvency position would remain adequate even in such a downturn scenario—underlining the value of solid capital buffers. Under the restrictive assumptions of the stress test, the adverse scenarios have large negative effects on the solvency and profitability of life insurance companies. Nonlife insurers would see a small decline in solvency ratios in the first year of the stress test. Though starting from lower solvency levels than life insurers, the aggregated impact on solvency ratios in the adverse scenario is comparably smaller.