Una década de constante disminución en la producción de hidrocarburos ha generado tensión en las cuentas fiscal y externa de Guinea Ecuatorial y ha hecho más patente la necesidad de diversificación económica. Un acuerdo en el marco del Servicio Ampliado del FMI (SAF) (aprobado en 2019) expiró en diciembre de 2022 sin que llegara a completarse ni una sola revisión.
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.
La economía paraguaya obtuvo buenos resultados en 2023, con un crecimiento del 4,7%. El crecimiento de este año sigue estando liderado por la solidez de la producción agrícola, las exportaciones y la alta generación de electricidad. La política monetaria se ajustó oportunamente a la rápida caída de la inflación y ahora se está acercando a una orientación neutral. Aunque se produjo un deterioro de la posición fiscal, ya se ha iniciado la consolidación. Se prevé que la cuenta corriente externa se mantenga próxima al equilibrio. Los bancos siguen siendo rentables y cuentan con provisiones adecuadas.
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.
Paraguay's economy is set to grow at around 4.5 percent in 2023, led by robust agricultural production and exports combined with high electricity generation. Inflation has receded rapidly allowing for a reduction of the monetary policy rate to the current 7.25 percent. The fiscal position of the central government is weaker than projected during the 1st PCI review, with a deficit of 4.1 percent of GDP in 2023, not least due to settlement of outstanding claims. The external current account reversed into a surplus. President Santiago Peña took office in August.
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.
Recent developments: Paraguay continues to recover from last year’s severe drought, with economic growth for 2023 expected at 4.5 percent. The recovery of agricultural exports is also contributing to an improved external current account, easing potential pressures on the exchange rate. In the context of a continued tight monetary policy stance, inflation has been declining over the last twelve months. The government successfully reduced the fiscal deficit to 3 percent of GDP, and fiscal policies remain on the envisaged consolidation path. Paraguay’s financial and banking sector remains stable. On April 30, Paraguay held national elections in which the candidate for the ruling Colorado party, Santiago Peña, was elected President by a significant margin.
"This title is available in Spanish only" A technical assistance (TA) mission was conducted remotely during February 4-18, 2022, to providing guidance to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) of Mexico in implementing the chain-linked volume measures with previous year weights in their national accounts (NA) statistics. Currently, INEGI compiles Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and related NA economic indicators at constant prices with fixed base year indices of 2013. Chain-linked volume measures provide improved and more accurate estimates of economic growth, especially in periods of structural change. The TA mission also provided extensive training on compiling chained indices with own country examples from the economic surveys and national accounts statistics to a large group of INEGI staff and discussed with INEGI management an action plan for developing and implementing chained indices for the national accounts and short-term indicators.
International Monetary Fund. Monetary and Capital Markets Department
At the request of the Superintendency of Banks of Panama (SBP), IMF’s Monetary and Capital Markets Department (MCM) provided two technical assistance (TA) missions in 2021 on macroprudential policy. This TA report is about the first mission, which evaluated the overall macroprudential policy framework in Panama, covering (1) the institutional arrangements; (2) the framework to assess systemic risks to prepare for policy actions; and (3) the policy toolkit. The assessment was conducted based on the IMF guidance (IMF, 2014), taking into account the country-specific circumstances in Panama. The TA report summarizes the mission’s findings and recommendations that were discussed with the authorities.