Cashing In: How to Make Negative Interest Rates Work
By Ruchir Agarwal and Signe Krogstrup
Español, Français, 日本語, Português
Many central banks reduced policy interest rates to zero during the global financial crisis to boost growth. (more…)
Countries in the IMF Financial Spotlight in 2019
By IMFBlog
In 2019, the IMF will complete 14 assessments under the Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP). Eight of this year’s assessments are mandatory: Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Italy, Poland, Singapore, and Switzerland. The other six are voluntary: Algeria, Bahamas, Kuwait, FYR Macedonia, Malta, and Thailand. (more…)
Top 10 Blogs of 2018
By IMFBlog
December 28, 2018
New Year’s eve fireworks in London, England: read our top ten blogs of 2018 (photo: Ben Cawthra/Newscom)
In 2018, the blogs that caught our readers’ collective eye were about the enduring forces molding the global economy: Brexit, crypto assets, debt, and housing prices, to name a few. (more…)
Sounding the Alarm on Leveraged Lending
By Tobias Adrian, Fabio Natalucci, and Thomas Piontek
November 15, 2018
A drilling crew member raises a pipe on an oil rig in Texas: Energy is among the industries in which leveraged lending is most prevalent, along with telecommunications, health care, and technology (photo: Nick Oxford/Reuters/Newscom)
We warned in the most recent Global Financial Stability Report that speculative excesses in some financial markets may be approaching a threatening level. (more…)
Chart of the Week: Financial Reform Report Card
By Tobias Adrian, Dirk Jan Grolleman, and Anastasiia Morozova
October 29, 2018
Countries have improved banking sector regulation considerably in the past decade, but areas of weakness remain (Steve Gottlieb/Newscom)
The many 10th anniversary retrospectives of the global financial crisis mostly agree: the financial system is safer today than it was when US investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsed in 2008. (more…)
Chart of the Week: Words Count for Central Bank Communications in Latin America
By Juan Yepez
October 15, 2018
Effective central bank communications are essential in guiding market expectations (photo: lionvision/iStock)
When it comes to central banks in Latin America, sometimes words can speak louder than actions. (more…)
The Financial System Is Stronger, but New Vulnerabilities Have Emerged in the Decade Since the Crisis
October 10, 2018
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Debt owed by governments, companies and households in economies with globally systemically important financial sectors has risen since the global financial crisis (Photo: Richard B. Levine/Newscom)
Although the global expansion has plateaued, easy monetary policies continue to support growth. But we shouldn’t rest too easily. Chapter 1 of the latest Global Financial Stability Report finds that short-term risks to the financial system have increased somewhat over the past six months. (more…)
Global Growth Plateaus as Economic Risks Materialize
October 9, 2018
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Uncertainty over trade policy is becoming a drag on economic activity (photo: Imagine China/Newscom)
The latest World Economic Outlook report projects that global growth will remain steady over 2018–19 at last year’s rate of 3.7 percent. This growth exceeds that achieved in any of the years between 2012 and 2016. It occurs as many economies have reached or are nearing full employment and as earlier deflationary fears have dissipated. Thus, policymakers still have an excellent opportunity to build resilience and implement growth-enhancing reforms.
Lasting Effects: The Global Economic Recovery 10 Years After the Crisis
By Wenjie Chen, Mico Mrkaic, and Malhar Nabar
October 3, 2018
عربي,中文, Español, Français, Baˈhasa indoneˈsia, 日本語, Português, Русский
Woman cleaning in Berlin, Germany: the 2008 global financial crisis has had long-lasting effects on economic growth (photo: Caro/Olaf Jandke/Newscom)
In the year following the 2008 financial crisis, economic activity declined in half of all countries in the world. Our analysis in Chapter 2 of the October World Economic Outlook shows that in many countries output is still well below levels that would have prevailed had output followed its precrisis trend. (more…)
A Decade After Lehman, the Financial System Is Safer. Now We Must Avoid Reform Fatigue
By Adolfo Barajas, Claudio Raddatz, and James P. Walsh
October 3, 2018
عربي, 中文, Español, Français, Baˈhasa indoneˈsia, 日本語, Português, Русский
A ticker in New York’s Times Square flashes the news of the collapse of Lehman Brothers on September 15, 2008: In the decade since, the financial sector has strengthened considerably, but the reform agenda remains incomplete (Photo: Joshua Lott/Reuters/Newscom)
In the decade since the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers sparked the most severe economic crisis since the Great Depression, regulation and supervision of the financial sector have been strengthened considerably. This has reduced the risk of another crisis, with all its attendant woes—unemployment, foreclosures, bankruptcies. But a new risk has emerged: reform fatigue. (more…)