IMFBlog2021-05-13T10:23:21-04:00May 13, 2021|
By Caio Ferreira, Fabio Natalucci, Ranjit Singh, and Felix Suntheim
Imagine you plan to invest your savings and are looking for a firm or sector with a sustainable business model or a project that can make a real difference in the transition to a low-carbon economy. […]
IMFBlog2021-01-27T17:52:53-05:00January 27, 2021|
By Tobias Adrian and Fabio Natalucci
عربي, 中文, Español, Français, 日本語, Português, Русский
“The vaccines are here!”—the cry heard and welcomed the world over—has boosted hopes of a global economic recovery in 2021. […]
IMFBlog2019-03-13T12:31:11-04:00October 15, 2018|
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. […]
IMFBlog2019-03-13T16:33:37-04:00July 18, 2018|
July 18, 2018
Versions in عربي, 中文, Español, Français 日本語, Português, Русский
Cars to be shipped abroad, Jiangsu, China: trade tariffs have gone into effect and export orders have decreased (photo: Imagine China/Newscom)
The artist Claude Monet once said, “I worked without stopping, for the tide at this moment is just as I need it.” As the Group of Twenty finance ministers gather this week at the banks of the Rio de la Plata in Buenos Aires they should be inspired by the words of Monet, […]
IMFBlog2019-03-14T09:56:10-04:00July 3, 2018|
By Deniz Igan
July 3, 2018
Versions in Español, Português
Reforms since the global financial crisis have made bail-ins a credible option and bail-outs less likely (photo: iStock by Getty Images)
During the global financial crisis, policymakers faced a steep trade-off in handling bank failures. Using public funds to rescue failing banks (bail-outs) could weaken market discipline and lead to excessive risk taking—the moral hazard effect. […]
IMFBlog2017-04-14T01:52:13-04:00October 28, 2014|
Tremendous efforts are under way to upgrade sub-Saharan Africa’s infrastructure. But the needs on the ground are still immense as evidenced by the frequent electricity blackouts, poor roads, and insufficient access to clean water in many countries.
Infrastructure is one of the key challenges facing policymakers in the region—I experienced it first hand when I was finance minister of Liberia before coming to the IMF. The benefits are fairly clear: with improved infrastructure, new growth opportunities in the manufacturing and services sector can be generated, barriers to intraregional trade can be reduced, and economies will be better positioned to transition from low to higher productivity activities. Without improved infrastructure, I fear the increase in productivity and greater economic diversification necessary to sustain Africa’s current growth momentum will not materialize.
In this spirit, in the latest Regional Economic Outlook: Sub-Saharan Africa economists from the IMF’s African Department looked at progress so far in addressing the infrastructure deficit and discussed policies needed going forward.
IMFBlog2017-04-14T02:10:19-04:00February 3, 2014|
(Version in 中文)
“Economic Shifts in U.S. and China Batter Markets” continuing “Stocks Slide Globally…Investors Head for Exits” read the front page headline in last week’s New York Times. Not sure about the U.S. part, I’ll leave that to others. But, as for China, this seems quite a stretch. Could be the pundits are erring in blaming the market slide on China, or perhaps the markets are misreading news coming out of China.
The purported China trigger was a survey of manufacturers. The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell somewhat, crossing the magic threshold from expansion to contraction. PMIs are useful, but let’s not get carried away. China’s PMI is not the best indicator for growth, the decline was rather small, and January and February data (because of the Lunar “Chinese” New Year) are hard to interpret.
IMFBlog2017-04-15T14:00:03-04:00January 17, 2013|
IMFBlog2017-04-15T14:00:23-04:00December 11, 2012|
IMFBlog2017-04-15T14:01:30-04:00October 10, 2012|
