Country Reports
2023
February 14, 2023
Republic of Moldova: Poverty Reduction Strategy and Growth Strategy
Description: The Republic of Moldova is continuously transforming, directly affected by regional and global events: the rise in the cost of energy and food products, the security crisis in the region created by the aggression of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, the reformation of value chains and even climate change affecting agricultural production. In this extremely difficult context, in addition to the short-term interventions needed to cope with the current crises, the Government has proposed to define a medium- and long-term development vision, in order to strengthen our resilience to future crises and create the basis for a sustainable and inclusive development of the country.
February 10, 2023
Jamaica: 2022 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report and Staff Statement
Description: The 2022 Article IV Consultation highlights that Jamaica has been buffeted by a difficult global environment—from coronavirus disease (COVID), the war in Ukraine, and the ongoing tightening of global financial conditions. The authorities provided targeted support to vulnerable households and firms during the pandemic but promptly scaled it back as conditions normalized. Similarly, in the wake of the war in Ukraine, domestic food and energy prices adjusted in line with shifts in international markets while targeted support was provided to the poor. Discussions focused on the prompt post-COVID fiscal consolidation and monetary policy tightening, which were instrumental to secure debt sustainability, respond to global shocks and aid the return of inflation to the target band. The IMF staff assess that maintaining high primary balances over the medium term remains important for debt sustainability. The Article IV consultation places a special focus on climate change. Despite contributing insignificantly to global greenhouse gas emissions, Jamaica’s geographical and socio-economic characteristics make the country vulnerable to climate events that are becoming larger and more frequent due to global warming.
February 10, 2023
Panama: Technical Assistance Report-Macroprudential Policy Frameworks
Description: At the request of the Superintendency of Banks of Panama (SBP), IMF’s Monetary and Capital Markets Department (MCM) provided two technical assistance (TA) missions in 2021 on macroprudential policy. This TA report is about the first mission, which evaluated the overall macroprudential policy framework in Panama, covering (1) the institutional arrangements; (2) the framework to assess systemic risks to prepare for policy actions; and (3) the policy toolkit. The assessment was conducted based on the IMF guidance (IMF, 2014), taking into account the country-specific circumstances in Panama. The TA report summarizes the mission’s findings and recommendations that were discussed with the authorities.
February 8, 2023
Malta: 2022 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; and Staff Report
Description: Malta’s economy rebounded strongly from the pandemic. However, the indirect impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine, including the anticipated slowdown in the European economy, high and volatile global energy prices, rising import costs, and weakened public finances following the pandemic are weighing on the outlook. The Maltese economy is expected to slow from 6¼ percent this year to 3¼ percent in 2023. The financial system has proved to be resilient to the pandemic with ample capital and liquidity buffers. In June 2022, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) removed Malta from its grey list of anti-money laundering and combatting the financing terrorism (AML/CFT) framework.
February 7, 2023
Republic of Croatia: Representative Rate for the Euro
Description: The Council of the European Union decided on July 12, 2022 that the Republic of Croatia had fulfilled the necessary conditions for adoption of the euro with effect from January 1, 2023,1 and that the conversion rate should be set at 7.53450 Croatian kuna per one euro.2 The Croatian authorities notified the Fund on October 5, 2022, that the euro will be their country’s currency, effective from January 1, 2023.
February 7, 2023
Haiti: Request for the Disbursement Under the Credit Facility-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Haiti
Description: Haiti has been hit hard by the global food price shock. In September 2022, food inflation reached 44 percent, with rice inflation nearly 70 percent. With more than half the population already below the poverty line, Haiti faces a dire humanitarian crisis, with an expected financing gap in FY2023 of at least US$105 million (0.5 percent of GDP), assuming import compression and pending additional external financing from development partners. This shock compounds the hardships of an already highly fragile country—also suffering a public health emergency (cholera) and serious security risks. In line with global trends and also due to an escalation of violence, the macroeconomic situation has been more challenging relative to the outlook in June 2022, at the time of the approval of the Staff Monitored Program (SMP). That said, recent data suggest that the authorities are making meaningful efforts to overcome the multiple challenges facing the country and the First Review of the SMP was approved by IMF Management on December 21, 2022.
February 3, 2023
Iraq: 2022 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; and Staff Report
Description: Significant socio-economic fragilities continue to persist. The formation of a new government in October 2022 provides an opportunity to rekindle the reform momentum, which has been stalled for over a year amid political uncertainty. The economy has been gradually recovering, supported by strong oil revenues and accommodative policies. Inflation has been relatively contained as the pass-through from high global commodity prices has been muted by food and fuel subsidies. Despite fiscal and external current account surpluses, Iraq’s dependence on oil and vulnerability to future oil price volatility continued to increase.