IMF Reaches Staff-Level Agreement on a New 38-Month Extended Credit Facility Arrangement with Sierra Leone and Completes 2024 Article IV Mission
September 20, 2024
IMF Executive Board Concludes 2024 Article IV Consultation with Bhutan
September 19, 2024
Bhutan: 2024 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Bhutan
September 19, 2024
Bhutan achieved significant improvements in social conditions during the last decade, raising living standards. Poverty and inequality have declined, while extreme poverty has been eliminated. However, the pandemic hindered economic development, and external shocks and domestic policies have prevented a more robust recovery and resulted in large external imbalances leading to a sharp decline in reserves and placing pressure on the exchange rate peg.
How to Design and Implement Property Tax Reforms
September 19, 2024
Property taxes are often under-exploited sources of local public revenues. A broad-based tax, raised at modest rates, can potentially generate significantly higher revenues in many countries, and meet most of the costs of improved local public services. This note provides a practical guide to designing and implementing reforms to recurrent taxes on immoveable property and real estate transfer taxes. It addresses the fundamental policy choices regarding the property tax base and tax rate, and the key functions of the tax administration for managing collections – valuation, billing, and enforcement. The advice in the note stems from a review of the literature and insights gained from the experiences of the Fiscal Affairs Department in delivering capacity development on property taxes. It covers and updates some of the analytical work by Norregaard (2013) while providing granular advice on practical aspects of reforming property taxes. The note is motivated by the resource mobilization needs of developing countries, but the design considerations are also pertinent for advanced and emerging market economies seeking to increase the revenue productivity of property taxes.
IMF Executive Board Completes Seventh Review Under the Extended Fund Facility Arrangement for Suriname
September 18, 2024
Navigating Through Financial Turbulences with Preparedness, Competence, and Confidence
September 18, 2024
A Strategic Pivot in Global Fiscal Policy
September 18, 2024
Bosnia and Herzegovina subscribes to the IMF’s Special Data Dissemination Standard
September 18, 2024
Norway: 2024 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Norway
September 18, 2024
Norway’s economy continues to perform strongly, reflecting strong policy frameworks and policy implementation, solid fiscal and banking system buffers, and a comprehensive social safety net. A few important challenges that need to be addressed include boosting labor supply, containing public expenditure pressures, and raising productivity.
Kingdom of the Netherlands-Curaçao and Sint Maarten: 2024 Article IV Consultation Discussions-Press Release and Staff Report
September 17, 2024
Curaçao and Sint Maarten experienced a vigorous post-pandemic recovery.
Growth was underpinned by strong stayover tourism, which is outperforming Caribbean
peers. Headline inflation has declined rapidly, notwithstanding a recent uptick, led by
international oil price developments, while core inflation remains elevated. In both
countries, current account deficits improved markedly from pandemic years but remain
high. Fiscal positions remained strong and in compliance of the fiscal rule. Both
countries strive to adopt sound macroeconomic policies, broadly in line with past IMF
advice (Annex I). The landspakket, the structural reform package agreed with the
Netherlands in 2020, continues to guide both countries’ reform agenda.