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A Shot in the Arm—How Special Drawing Rights Can Help Struggling Countries

2021-08-26T12:53:30-04:00August 26, 2021|

By IMFBlog

The largest allocation of Special Drawing Rights, or SDRs, in history—about $650 billion—came into effect earlier this week. The allocation is a significant shot in the arm for the world and, if used wisely, a unique opportunity to combat this unprecedented crisis.

The SDR allocation will provide additional liquidity to the global economic system—supplementing countries’ foreign exchange reserves and reducing their reliance on more expensive domestic or external debt. Countries can use the space provided by the SDR allocation to support their economies and step up their fight against the crisis.

SDRs are being distributed to countries in […]

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Coming Together

2021-08-11T10:34:32-04:00August 10, 2021|

By Vitor Gaspar and Gita Gopinath

عربي, Español, Français, Português, Русский

Differences in vaccine access and the ability to deploy policy support are creating a growing divergence between advanced economies from many emerging market and developing economies. Faced with high deficits and historic levels of debt, countries with limited access to financing are walking a fiscal tightrope between providing adequate support and preserving financial stability. […]

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How COVID-19 Will Increase Inequality in Emerging Markets and Developing Economies

2020-10-30T15:49:14-04:00October 29, 2020|

By Gabriela Cugat and Futoshi Narita

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

Emerging markets and developing economies grew consistently in the two decades before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, allowing for much-needed gains in poverty reduction and life expectancy. The crisis now puts much of that progress at risk while further widening the gap between rich and poor.

Despite the pre-pandemic gains in poverty reduction and lifespans, many of these countries have struggled to reduce income inequality. At the same time, they saw persistently high shares of inactive youth (i.e., those not […]

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Fiscal Policies For Women’s Economic Empowerment

2020-02-19T15:04:00-05:00February 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. […]

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