Global Economy – IMF Blog

Finding Solid Footing for the Global Economy

IMFBlog2020-02-21T09:44:28-05:00February 19, 2020|

عربي , Español, Français, 日本語, Português, Русский

As the Group of Twenty industrialized and emerging market economies (G-20) finance ministers and central bank governors gather in Riyadh this week, they face an uncertain economic landscape.

After disappointing growth in 2019, we began to see signs of stabilization and risk reduction, including the Phase 1 U.S.-China trade deal. In January, the IMF projected growth to strengthen from 2.9 percent in 2019 to 3.3 percent in 2020 and 3.4 percent in 2021. This projected uptick in growth is dependent on improved performance in some emerging market and developing economies. (more…)

Fiscal Policies For Women’s Economic Empowerment

IMFBlog2020-02-19T15:04:00-05:00February 18, 2020|

By Stefania Fabrizio, Daniel Gurara and Lisa Kolovich

Making sure that opportunities to enter the workforce are fair and rewarding for women benefits everyone. Yet, the average female workforce participation rate across countries is still 20 percentage points lower than the male rate, largely because gender gaps in wages and access to opportunities, such as education, stubbornly persist. (more…)

Construction Activity Can Signal When Credit Booms Go Wrong

IMFBlog2020-02-12T16:26:44-05:00February 12, 2020|

By Deniz Igan

Español, Português

In Spain, private sector credit as a share of GDP almost doubled between 2000 and 2007. This increase was accompanied by a boom in housing prices—which doubled in real terms over the same period. The economy as a whole also grew at a record pace. (more…)

Countries in the IMF Financial Spotlight in 2020

IMFBlog2020-01-30T09:29:28-05:00January 30, 2020|

By IMFBlog

In 2020, the IMF plans to assess the stability of twelve financial systems. Seven assessments are of jurisdictions with systemically important financial sectors (Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong SAR, Italy, Korea, Norway, and the United States), for which it is mandatory to undergo financial stability assessments every five years. (more…)

Outlook for Latin America and the Caribbean: New Challenges to Growth

IMFBlog2020-01-30T12:34:22-05:00January 29, 2020|

By Alejandro Werner

Español, Português

Economic activity in Latin America and the Caribbean stagnated in 2019, continuing with the weak growth momentum of the previous five years and adding more urgency and new challenges to reignite growth. Indeed, real GDP per capita in the region has declined by 0.6 percent per year on average during 2014–2019—a sharp contrast from the commodity boom’s average increase of two percent per year during 2000–2013. (more…)

Tentative Stabilization, Sluggish Recovery?

IMFBlog2020-01-21T11:07:16-05:00January 20, 2020|

By Gita Gopinath

عربي, 中文, Español, Français, 日本語, Português, Русский

In the October World Economic Outlook, we described the global economy as in a synchronized slowdown, with escalating downside risks that could further derail growth. Since then, some risks have partially receded with the announcement of a US-China Phase I trade deal and lower likelihood of a no-deal Brexit. (more…)

Top 10 Charts of the Week for 2019

IMFBlog2020-01-06T17:16:30-05:00December 30, 2019|

By IMFBlog

The decade is over and with it goes another year of insightful, thought-provoking, and dare we say clever, charts of the week brought to you by the IMF.

Everyone likes a great chart, right? So to get the new year started on the right foot, take a minute and look back at what caught your eye (or what you might have missed) in 2019. (more…)

Top 10 Blogs of 2019

IMFBlog2020-01-15T14:15:18-05:00December 23, 2019|

By IMFBlog

عربي, 中文, Español, Français, 日本語, Português, Русский

In what seems like a blink of an eye, 2019 came and went. The frequency of events and developments left little time for contemplation, and, in many respects left more questions than answers. We covered some of these on IMFBlog, and we hope our analysis succeeded in providing our readers with answers. (more…)

Striking the Right Balance Between Sustainable Development and Sustainable Debt

IMFBlog2019-12-23T11:19:23-05:00December 19, 2019|

By Kristalina Georgieva

عربي, Español, 日本語, Português

Over the past two decades, sub-Saharan Africa has made considerable economic progress: extreme poverty levels have declined by one third; life expectancy has increased by a fifth; and real per capita income has grown by about 50 percent on average. Yet, sub-Saharan Africa is still only half-way to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals. (more…)

2019 in Review: The Global Economy Explained in 5 Charts

IMFBlog2019-12-23T12:36:10-05:00December 18, 2019|

By Gita Gopinath, Gian Maria Milesi-Ferretti, and Malhar Nabar

عربي, Español, 中文, Français, 日本語, Português, Русский

Global growth this year recorded its weakest pace since the global financial crisis a decade ago, reflecting common influences across countries and country-specific factors. (more…)