Chart of the WeekLatin America’s Inflation Challenge
Inflation has surged in the largest economies of Latin America, prompting large central banks in the region to raise interest rates before economic activity has fully recovered.
Outlook for Latin America and the Caribbean: New Challenges to Growth
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. […]
Back to School Blogs
By IMFBlog
September 7, 2018
عربي, Baˈhasa indoneˈsia, 中文, Español, Français,日本語, Português, Русский
Girls on their first day of school: our latest blog helps you catch up on all the news of the summer (Shadi Jarar’ah/Newscom)
As your list of things to do gets longer and the days grow shorter, you know summer is fading, just like your tan.
To help you quickly catch up on the news and policy debates of the summer—if you live in the Northern Hemisphere—our editors have put together a list of our top reads on economics and finance. […]
Outlook for the Americas: A Tougher Recovery
July 23, 2018
Versions in Español, Português
Street vendors in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: While growth is accelerating in some parts of Latin America, the recovery has become tougher for some of the largest economies (photo: Oliver Wintzen/Robert Harding/Newscom)
Economic activity in Latin America continues to recover. Following the pickup in domestic demand led by consumption in 2017, investment is finally gathering strength. […]
The Global Expansion: Still Strong but Less Even, More Fragile, Under Threat
July 16, 2018
Versions in عربي, Baˈhasa indoneˈsia, 中文, Español, Français, 日本語, Português, Русский
The escalation of trade tensions is the greatest near-term threat to global growth (photo: wildpixel/Getty Images by iStock)
Amid rising tensions over international trade, the broad global expansion that began roughly two years ago has plateaued and become less balanced. […]
How the Commodity Boom Helped Tackle Poverty and Inequality in Latin America
By Ravi Balakrishnan and Frederik Toscani
June 21, 2018
Versions in Español, Português
People buying produce in a busy market in Bahia, Brazil. During the commodity boom, Brazil saw significant reductions in poverty and inequality (photo: golero/iStock by Getty Images)
Latin America may be the most unequal region in the world, but it is the only region to significantly lower inequality over the past two decades, and the boom in commodity prices helped make it happen. […]
Global Economy: Good News for Now but Trade Tensions a Threat
April 17, 2018
Versions in عربي (Arabic), baˈhasa indoneˈsia (Indonesian), 中文 (Chinese), Español (Spanish), Français (French), 日本語 (Japanese), Português (Portuguese), Русский (Russian)
Container ship in Colombo, Sri Lanka: the recent escalating tensions over trade present a growing risk to the global economy (photo: STRINGER/REUTERS/Newscom).
The world economy continues to show broad-based momentum. Against that positive backdrop, the prospect of a similarly broad-based conflict over trade presents a jarring picture.
Three months ago, we updated our global growth forecast for this year and next substantially, to 3.9 percent in both years. That forecast is being borne out by continuing strong performance in the euro area, Japan, China, and the United States, all of which grew above expectations last year. We also project near-term improvements for several other emerging market and developing economies, including some recovery in commodity exporters. Continuing to power the world economy’s upswing are accelerations in investment and, notably, in trade. […]
Managing Debt Vulnerabilities in Low-Income and Developing Countries
By Tao Zhang
March 22, 2018
Versions in Português (Portuguese)
Congested streets in Dhaka, Bangladesh. In a third of low-income countries, including Bangladesh, government deficits finance investment in much needed infrastructure (photo: Motoya Taguchi/Jiji Press/Newscom).
Government debt in some of the world’s poorest countries is rising to risky levels, a new IMF report shows. The report looks at economic developments and prospects among the world’s low-income countries, which account for a fifth of the world’s population but only four percent of global output. […]
The Current Economic Sweet Spot Is Not the “New Normal”
January 22, 2018
Versions in عربي (Arabic), 中文 (Chinese), Español (Spanish), Français (French), 日本語 (Japanese), Русский (Russian)
Global growth continues to pick up and is broad based. But no matter how tempting it is to sit back and enjoy the sunshine, policy can and should move to strengthen the recovery (photo: Mumbai, India, Ingram Publishing/Newscom).
As the year 2018 begins, the world economy is gathering speed. The new World Economic Outlook Update revises our forecast for the world economy’s growth in both 2018 and 2019 to 3.9 percent. For both years, that is 0.2 percentage points higher than last October’s forecast, and 0.2 percentage points higher than our current estimate of last year’s global growth. […]