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International Monetary Fund. African Dept.
This paper presents São Tomé and Príncipe’s Request for an Arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF). São Tomé and Príncipe is facing major macroeconomic challenges, including high fuel import needs, limited export potential, and low international reserves. The authorities' reform program aims to restore macroeconomic stability, while protecting the vulnerable and establishing a foundation for more rapid and inclusive growth. It encompasses urgent reforms in the electricity sector and medium-term structural adjustments to foster green energy and unleash the country’s growth potential. The authorities remain committed to maintaining debt sustainability, including through prudent borrowing practices and a focus on securing grant financing and concessional loans. The envisaged comprehensive reform of the energy sector and gradual shift towards renewable energy sources will help to reduce fuel imports, boost international reserves, and contain fiscal risks. The ECF arrangement is expected to catalyze additional external financing from development partners.
International Monetary Fund. Asia and Pacific Dept

Abstract

Short-term prospects for Asia and the Pacific have improved slightly compared to the IMF’s April forecasts, even though growth is still expected to moderate in 2024 and 2025. The regional growth projection for 2024 has been marked up to 4.6 percent from 4.5 percent in April, largely reflecting the over-performance in the first half of the year, and the region is forecast to contribute roughly 60 percent to global growth in 2024. In 2025, more accommodative monetary conditions are expected to support activity, resulting in a slight upward growth revision to 4.4 percent from 4.3 percent in April. Inflation has retreated in much of the region. At the same time, risks have increased, reflecting rising geopolitical tensions, uncertainty about the strength of global demand, and potential for financial volatility. Demographic change will act increasingly as a brake on activity, though structural shifts into high-productivity sectors such as tradable services hold promise to sustain robust growth.

Augusto Azael Pérez Azcárraga
,
Tadatsugu Matsudaira
,
Gilles Montagnat-Rentier
,
Janos Nagy
, and
R. James Clark

Abstract

Las administraciones de aduanas ven surgir nuevos retos a medida que aumenta el volumen del comercio internacional, aparece nueva tecnología y cambian los modelo de negocio. Este libro analiza los cambios y desafíos que enfrentan las administraciones de aduanas y propone formas de abordarlos. Describe los problemas que las autoridades deben tener en cuenta a la hora de elaborar su propia hoja de ruta para la modernización de las aduanas.

International Monetary Fund. European Dept.
This Selected Issues paper explains Estonia’s recent losses of export market shares. Estonia’s export market share has fallen sharply, signalling that exporters have difficulties to keep up with foreign competition. While the immediate cause of this decline can be traced back to an adverse combination of external shocks triggered by the war in Ukraine, signs of faltering export performance surfaced already in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, and thus predate recent shocks. Using a constant share decomposition, this paper shows that, unlike in Latvia and Lithuania, a significant portion of the decline in Estonia’s export share can be attributed to the ‘intensive margin’, i.e., a shrinking share of Estonia’s exports in the main destination markets—a sign of weakening external competitiveness and declining relative productivity. A few high-level policy implications can be drawn. Addressing the erosion of external competitiveness will require structural reforms aimed at enhancing productivity, removing impediment to a structural transformation of the economy toward more technologically intensive and higher value-added products and services, as well as efforts to ensure that real wage growth remains closely aligned with productivity growth. By addressing these underlying challenges, Estonia can restore external competitiveness and ensure continued convergence toward the income levels of EU most advanced economies and Nordic neighbors.
International Monetary Fund. Statistics Dept.
A technical assistance (TA) mission on external sector statistics (ESS) was conducted to the Central Statistics Office (CSO) of Saint Lucia as part of the Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre (CARTAC) work program on ESS. The mission focused on addressing data compilation issues on trade in goods—especially on the import and re-export of fuel—and travel credits and assessed the revised 2022 balance of payments that was disseminated in December 2023.
Augusto A Perez Azcarraga
,
Tadatsugu Matsudaira
,
Gilles Montagnat-Rentier
,
Janos Nagy
, and
R. James Clark

Abstract

Перед таможенными службами во всем мире встают новые задачи: растущий объем международной торговли, революция в новых технологиях и фундаментальные изменения в бизнес-моделях. Преимущества хорошо функционирующей таможенной администрации очевидны, равно как и необходимость развития эффективных, действенных, справедливых и современных таможенных администраций. Книга «Таможенные вопросы» анализирует многочисленные изменения и проблемы, с которыми сталкиваются таможенные администрации, и предлагают пути их решения. Предлагая разноплановый взгляд на основные аспекты таможенного администрирования, книга служит руководством для директивных органов и должностных лиц таможенных служб при оценке текущего состояния их таможенных систем в целях разработки, совершенствования или продвижения своих планов действий по модернизации таможенной службы.

International Monetary Fund. Middle East and Central Asia Dept.

Abstract

Across the Middle East and Central Asia, the combined effects of global headwinds, domestic challenges, and geopolitical risks weigh on economic momentum, and the outlook is highly uncertain. Growth is set to slow this year in the Middle East and North Africa region, driven by lower oil production, tight policy settings in emerging market and middle-income economies, the conflict in Sudan, and other country-specific factors. In the Caucasus and Central Asia, although migration, trade, and financial inflows following Russia’s war in Ukraine continue to support economic activity, growth is set to moderate slightly this year. Looking ahead, economic activity in the Middle East and North Africa region is expected to improve in 2024 and 2025 as some factors weighing on growth this year gradually dissipate, including the temporary oil production cuts. But growth is expected to remain subdued over the forecast horizon amid persistent structural hurdles. In the Caucasus and Central Asia, economic growth is projected to slow next year and over the medium term as the boost to activity from real and financial inflows from Russia gradually fades and deep-seated structural challenges remain unsolved. Inflation is broadly easing, in line with globally declining price pressures, although country-specific factors—including buoyant wage growth in some Caucasus and Central Asia countries—and climate-related events continue to make their mark. Despite some improvement since April, the balance of risks to the outlook remains on the downside. In this context, expediting structural reforms is crucial to boost growth and strengthen resilience, while tight monetary and fiscal policies remain essential in several economies to durably bring down inflation and ensure public debt sustainability.

Mr. Romain M Veyrune
and
Solo Zerbo
The finances of central banks is a topic of renewed interest: many central banks are posting significant losses due to the cost of monetary policy, over which central banks have no control. Conversely, operational expenses, over which the central banks have more control, is a subject of less attention. We use public income statement data from central banks to calculate a score for operational expense efficiency based on a stochastic frontier analysis. In addition, we offer potential explanations for the observed variations in efficiency levels across central banks. Our analysis reveals significant heterogeneity across countries and income groups. Central banks with a single objective demonstrate higher efficiency compared with those with multiple objectives. Regarding the output of price stability, central banks in low-income developing countries exhibit lower efficiency compared with central banks in emerging markets and advanced economies. Factors such as central bank independence, the depth of the financial system, and the degree of openness play a role in influencing efficiency levels. Our findings underscore the significance of well-defined objectives, the operating environment, and concentration on core activities in reducing inefficiency.
World Trade Organization
,
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
,
International Monetary Fund
, and
United Nations

Abstract

Digital technologies have made it increasingly feasible for buyers and sellers to place and receive orders on a global scale. They also enable the instantaneous remote delivery of services directly into businesses and homes, including internationally. The Handbook on Measuring Digital Trade sets out a conceptual and measurement framework for digital trade that aligns with the broader standards for macroeconomic statistics. It aims to help statistical compilers to address policymakers’ needs for statistical evidence on digital trade. It includes extensive compilation guidance, drawing upon substantive inputs and case studies from both developed and developing economies and covering a variety of survey and non-survey sources. This second edition of the Handbook builds upon the concepts set out in the first edition, published in 2019. Focusing on cross-border digitally ordered goods and services, on digitally delivered services, and on the role played by digital intermediation platforms the Handbook provides a framework and template for the compilation of internationally comparable statistics on digital trade.

Camila Casas
,
Sergii Meleshchuk
, and
Mr. Yannick Timmer
We provide evidence of a new channel through which exchange rates affect trade. Using a novel identification strategy that exploits firms’ maturity structure of foreign currency debt around a large depreciation in Colombia, we show that firms experiencing a stronger debt revaluation of dominant currency debt due to a home currency depreciation compress imports relatively more while exports are unaffected. Dominant currency financing does not lead to an import compression for firms that export, hold foreign currency assets, or are active in the foreign exchange derivatives markets, as they are all hedged against a revaluation of their debt. These findings can be rationalized through the prism of a model with costly state verification and foreign currency borrowing. Quantitatively, the dominant currency financing channel explains a significant part of the external adjustment process in addition to the expenditure switching channel. Pricing exports in the dominant currency, instead of the producer’s currency, mutes the effect of dominant currency financing on trade flows.