IMF releases

Here are the latest IMF releases:

Policy Papers

Mongolia-Assessment Letter for the Asian Development Bankr:
Summary: Assessment Letters or Statements may be prepared for member countries with Fund-supported programs; receiving Fund emergency assistance; with staff-monitored programs; or surveillance-only cases. They are typically produced for use by the country with multilateral or bilateral donors or creditors, in particular the World Bank and other International Financial Institutions.

Surveys

IMF Urges Stimulus as Global Growth Marked Down Sharply
The IMF urges countries to stimulate their economies in the face of a bigger-than-expected slowdown in the global economy triggered by recent financial turmoil. In its latest forecast for world economic growth, the IMF sharply revises its growth projections downward.

IMF Agrees $15.7 Billion Loan to Bolster Hungary's Finances
The IMF's Executive Board approves a $15.7 billion loan for Hungary as part of a program designed to ease financial market stress in the East European country while supporting longer-run economic goals of reforming government finances and the banking sector.

Working Papers

Fiscal Policy and Economic Cycles in Oil-Exporting Countries
Author/Editor: Husain, Aasim M.; Tazhibayeva, Kamilya; Ter-Martirosyan, Anna
Summary: This paper empirically assesses the impact of oil price shocks on the underlying non-oil economic cycle in oil-exporting countries. Panel VAR analysis and the associated impulse responses indicate that in countries where the oil sector is large in relation to the economy, oil price changes affect the economic cycle only through their impact on fiscal policy. Once fiscal policy changes are removed, oil price shocks do not have a significant independent effect on the economic cycle.

Country Reports

The Kingdom of Swaziland: 2008 Article IV Consultation-Staff Report; Public Information Notice on the Executive Board Discussion; and Statement by the Executive Director

Grenada: First Review Under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility Arrangement, Request for Waiver of Performance Criterion, Financing Assurance Review, Request for Rephasing and Extension of the Arrangement, and Request for Augmentation-Staff Report; Staff Supplement; and Press Release on the Executive Board Discussion