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International Monetary Fund. Asia and Pacific Dept
Sri Lanka underwent a political transition with presidential and parliamentary elections in late 2024. The new authorities expressed commitment to the program. Reform efforts are bearing fruit with growth recovering, low inflation, increased revenue collection, and reserves accumulation. By end-2024, Sri Lanka’s real GDP is projected to have recovered about 40 percent of its loss incurred between 2018 and 2023. Nevertheless, the economy is still vulnerable, and restoration of debt and external sustainability depends on continued implementation of reforms.
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.
El Salvador has recovered well from the pandemic, supported by robust remittances and buoyant tourism flows, amid a sharp improvement in the country’s security situation. Inflation has fallen and the external imbalances have narrowed more recently, consistent with a gradual improvement in public finances and favorable terms of trade. In this context, sovereign spreads have come down sharply with recent debt buyback operations helping to ease near-term external financing needs. Despite recent progress, El Salvador’s macroeconomic imbalances remain significant, stemming from high fiscal deficits and debt, as well as low external and financial buffers, in the context of dollarization. Meanwhile, underlying productivity remains low, reflecting in part persistent social and infrastructure gaps, as well as a legacy of weak governance and transparency, which have discouraged investment. The Bukele administration is intent on focusing its second mandate on addressing pending macroeconomic and structural challenges and boosting economic growth, under an IMF-supported program.
International Monetary Fund. Asia and Pacific Dept
Malaysia’s economic performance has significantly improved in 2024, supported by strong domestic and external demand. Disinflation is taking hold and external pressures have eased. The favorable economic conditions provide a window of opportunity to build macroeconomic policy buffers and accelerate structural reforms, especially as risks to growth are tilted to the downside amid an uncertain global outlook. Risks to the inflation outlook are tilted to the upside, including from global commodity price shocks and potential wage pressures.
International Monetary Fund. Asia and Pacific Dept
Prudent macroeconomic policies have supported India’s economic resilience, with growth expected to recover from a recent softening and inflation expected to converge to target. Risks to the outlook include deepening geoeconomic fragmentation and a slower pace of domestic demand recovery.
International Monetary Fund. Asia and Pacific Dept
Solomon Islands has weathered the shocks of civil unrest, pandemic, and commodity price hikes, and achieved the milestones of hosting the Pacific Games in late 2023 and conducting peaceful general elections in April 2024. These achievements have raised the country's profile and strengthened national unity, but with costs—public debt has nearly tripled since before the pandemic, and the government's cash reserves have been significantly depleted. While staff expects continued modest growth in 2024 and 2025, medium-term growth prospects appear moderate and fiscal and current account deficits are expected to persist. Now is the time for the authorities to advance reforms to tackle the perennial challenge of stagnant per-capita income growth, while ensuring fiscal sustainability and resilience.
International Monetary Fund. Asia and Pacific Dept
Thailand’s cyclical recovery is underway, though it has yet to become broad-based. Growth is projected to accelerate moderately, reaching 2.7 percent in 2024 and 2.9 percent in 2025, supported by the rebound of tourism-related activities and fiscal stimulus. The slow recovery, weaker than in ASEAN peers, is rooted in Thailand’s longstanding structural weaknesses and emerging headwinds that also contribute to a muted inflation trajectory. Significant uncertainty in the external environment and downside risks cloud the outlook.
International Monetary Fund. Strategy, Policy, & Review Department
Many emerging markets and developing economies face elevated debt vulnerabilities and financing needs. Following the 2020-21 surge in debt levels associated with the COVID-19 shock, and the subsequent tightening in global financial conditions, many emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs)1 are grappling with rising debt service burdens that squeeze the space available for development spending. Pandemic-induced deficits have declined, and debt levels have stabilized and are projected to remain stable or slightly decline under staff’s baseline assumptions. However, many EMDEs are confronting high costs of financing, large external refinancing needs, and a decline in net external flows amid important investment and social spending needs. To help address these challenges, countries would benefit from actions, both at domestic and international level, to proactively expand their capacity to finance development spending. There are also important risks to the baseline that will require careful monitoring. This paper aims to help inform the international debate on these issues by providing factual data and insight on the debt vulnerabilities and financing pressures facing EMDEs.
International Monetary Fund. African Dept.
Liberia continues to face substantial long-term development challenges. Resource constraints and substantial gaps in infrastructure and human capital have hindered Liberia’s growth prospects and the authorities’ efforts to improve living standards. Addressing these challenges will require sustained efforts to mobilize additional revenues, enhance financial stability, improve public financial management, and seek external grants and highly concessional loans for key capital investment projects. Improvements in these areas would help create fiscal space to scale up investment in infrastructure and human capital, thus unleashing the country’s growth potential.