IMF Staff Concludes Visit to Lebanon

“Lebanon has not undertaken the urgently needed reforms, and this will weigh on the economy for years to come. The lack of political will to make difficult, yet critical, decisions to launch reforms leaves Lebanon with an impaired banking sector, inadequate public services, deteriorating infrastructure, worsening poverty and unemployment conditions, and a further widening of the income gap. Inflation remains in triple digits, further compressing real incomes, and foreign exchange (FX) reserves continued to decline in the first half of the year, including due to Banque du Liban's (BdL’s) financing of quasi-fiscal operations and the large current account deficit.”

IMF Executive Board Concludes 2023 Article IV Consultation with Kiribati

The economy continued to expand after the removal of all COVID 19 restrictions in the second half of 2022. Due to supportive fiscal policies, the economy recovered strongly in 2021, with real GDP growing 7.9 percent from a contraction of 1.4 percent in 2020. However, a domestic outbreak of COVID 19 and the subsequent restrictions imposed during the first half of 2022 limited mobility and further delayed large infrastructure projects.

Nauru: Staff Concluding Statement of the 2023 Article IV Mission

Nauru’s external position was moderately weaker than the level implied by fundamentals and desirable policies in FY2022. Rising imports, driven by the high transportation costs, led to a current account balance (CAB) of -0.5 percent of GDP in FY2022. The reserve coverage is equivalent to 3.5 months of imports in FY2022, above the reserve adequacy ratio of 2.8 months, but it is expected to decline over the medium term.

Subscribe to