A Hobbled Recovery Along Entrenched Fault Lines
The global recovery continues amid increasing uncertainty, more complex policy trade-offs.
A Future with High Public Debt: Low-for-Long Is Not Low Forever
By Marcos Chamon and Jonathan D. Ostry
Many countries are experiencing a combination of high public debt and low interest rates. This was already the case in advanced economies even prior to the pandemic but has become even starker in its aftermath. […]
Slow-Healing Scars: The Pandemic’s Legacy
By Sonali Das and Philippe Wingender
عربي, 中文, Español, Français, 日本語, Português, Русский
Recessions wreak havoc and the damage is often long-lived. Businesses shut down, investment spending is cut, and people out of work can lose skills and motivation as the months stretch on. […]
Chart of the WeekAging Economies May Benefit Less from Fiscal Stimulus
By Jiro Honda and Hiroaki Miyamoto
In the midst of the current COVID-19 pandemic, policymakers around the world are undertaking fiscal stimulus—a combination of spending increases and tax reductions—to support their economies. […]
COVID-19 Response in Emerging Market Economies: Conventional Policies and Beyond
By Martin Mühleisen, Tryggvi Gudmundsson, and Hélène Poirson Ward
عربي, 中文, Español, Français, 日本語, Português, Русский
The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on emerging market economies far exceeded that of the global financial crisis. Unlike previous crises, the response has been decisive just like in advanced economies. […]
A New Social Contract
November 30, 2018
(photo: Michael Waraksa)
As the world seeks to address the rise of populism and nationalism, it is becoming clear that economic insecurity lies at the heart of much of the discontent. […]
Economic Preparedness: The Need for Fiscal Space
By Vikram Haksar, Marialuz Moreno-Badia, Catherine Pattillo and Murtaza Syed
June 27, 2018
Versions in عربي, 中文, Baˈhasa indoneˈsia, 日本語, Português
Countries must assess the amount of room in their budgets for increasing spending or cutting taxes (photo: Martin Barraud/iStock by Getty Images)
How much leeway national policymakers have for increasing spending or cutting taxes has been hard to assess. […]
Act Now, Act Together
By Vitor Gaspar and Luc Eyraud
Versions in 中文 (Chinese), Français (French), Español (Spanish), 日本語 (Japanese), and Русский (Russian)
Public finances have had a rough year. A new reality is emerging. Against this backdrop, countries need to act now to boost growth and build resilience. They must also be prepared to act together to fend off global risks.
Africa’s Success: More Than A Resource Story
When meeting with people outside Africa, I’m often asked whether Africa’s growth takeoff since the mid-1990s has been simply a “commodity story”—a ride fueled by windfall gains from high commodity prices. But finance ministers and other policymakers in the region, and I was one of them, know that the story is richer than that.
In this spirit, in our latest Regional Economic Outlook: Sub-Saharan Africa a team of economists from the IMF’s African Department show that Africa’s continued success is more than a commodity story. In fact, quite a few economies in the region have become high performers without basing their success on natural resources—thanks in no small part to sound policymaking.