Economies in the Financial Spotlight in 2021
By IMFBlog
Throughout 2020 and into 2021, the global financial system withstood the effects of the global pandemic and economic lockdowns due to unprecedented policy support. […]
Tackling Corruption in Government
By Vitor Gaspar, Paolo Mauro and Paulo Medas
عربي, 中文, Español, Français, 日本語, Português, Русский
No country is immune to corruption. The abuse of public office for private gain erodes people’s trust in government and institutions, makes public policies less effective and fair, and siphons taxpayers’ money away from schools, roads, and hospitals. […]
Chart of the Week: Government Debt Is Not the Whole Story: Look at the Assets
By IMFBlog
October 23, 2018
The Millennium Bridge in London, England: governments often don’t include the value of their assets, like bridges and roads, as well as natural resources, when they measure public wealth (Ingram Publishing/Newscom)
Lost track of your personal finances? You are not alone. Your government has often lost track of its finances too. While it keeps close tabs on debt, it is less clear on how much it owns: the assets. […]
Building a Camaraderie of Central Bankers: How Monetary Policymakers in the Caucasus and Central Asia Can Learn From Each Other
By Min Zhu
The world’s central bankers are certainly in the news these days. Not a week goes by without the Fed, the European Central Bank or the Bank of Japan taking big and often unprecedented actions to fight deflation, preserve financial stability, or address mediocre growth. We tend to forget, however, that these are not the only central banks that are struggling to adapt their policies to changing circumstances in our connected world.
Take the Caucasus and Central Asia — Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Central banking in these former Soviet republics rarely makes international headlines. But figuring out how best to design and run monetary policy is no less a challenge than in the United States or the euro zone.
What to Do About Unemployment in the Caucasus and Central Asia
Looking beyond growth rates, one challenge that stands out for the Caucasus and Central Asia region as a whole is to create jobs.
Addressing External Vulnerabilities in the Oil-Importing Countries of the Caucasus and Central Asia
Countries in the Caucasus and Central Asia region that import, rather than export, oil were hit hard by the Great Recession of 2008/09. The good news is that, today, the outlook for those countries is broadly positive. But, as often seems to be the case in today’s world, this good news is tempered with a word of caution.
According to our latest Regional Economic Outlook: Middle East and Central Asia, there are a number of downside risks. And the key challenge for these four countries—Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan—will be to take actions now to address these risks.