After a Strong Crisis Response, Asia Can Build a Fairer and Greener Future
In some Asia-Pacific countries, the unpleasant memory of the pandemic is receding; elsewhere, second or third waves of infections are raging. […]
What the Continued Global Uncertainty Means for You
By Hites Ahir, Nicholas Bloom, and Davide Furceri
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Global uncertainty reached unprecedented levels at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak and remains elevated. The World Uncertainty Index—a quarterly measure of global economic and policy uncertainty covering 143 countries—shows that although uncertainty has come down by about 60 percent from the peak observed at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the first quarter of 2020, it remains about 50 percent above its historical average during the 1996–2010 period.
Uncertainty in systemic economies matters for uncertainty […]
Glaciers of Global Finance: The Currency Composition of Central Banks’ Reserve Holdings
By Alina Iancu, Neil Meads, Martin Mühleisen, Yiqun Wu
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The currencies that are being held by central banks as foreign exchange reserves have remained largely steady over decades. […]
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Chart of the WeekTrade as a Tool for an Efficient Recovery
By Jesus Gonzalez-Garcia and Yuanchen Yang
As economies now look for paths to recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, new evidence reaffirms that policies for more open and trade-integrated economies could significantly benefit domestic competition and ultimately may help lower costs for consumers in emerging and developing economies. […]
Chart of the WeekTracking Trade During the COVID-19 Pandemic
By Diego Cerdeiro, Andras Komaromi, Yang Liu, and Mamoon Saeed
With the current fast-changing developments, policy makers need to know what is happening to the economy in real time, but they often must settle for data telling them what happened many weeks ago. […]
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Limiting the Economic Fallout of the Coronavirus with Large Targeted Policies
This blog is part of a special series on the response to the coronavirus.
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This health crisis will have a significant economic fallout, reflecting shocks to supply and demand different from past crises. Substantial targeted policies are needed to support the economy through the epidemic, keeping intact the web of economic and financial relationships between workers and businesses, lenders and borrowers, and suppliers and end-users for activity to recover once the outbreak fades. The goal is to prevent a […]
Finding Solid Footing for the Global Economy
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As the Group of Twenty industrialized and emerging market economies (G-20) finance ministers and central bank governors gather in Riyadh this week, they face an uncertain economic landscape.
After disappointing growth in 2019, we began to see signs of stabilization and risk reduction, including the Phase 1 U.S.-China trade deal. In January, the IMF projected growth to strengthen from 2.9 percent in 2019 to 3.3 percent in 2020 and 3.4 percent in 2021. This projected uptick in growth is dependent on […]
Countries in the IMF Financial Spotlight in 2020
By IMFBlog
In 2020, the IMF plans to assess the stability of twelve financial systems. Seven assessments are of jurisdictions with systemically important financial sectors (Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong SAR, Italy, Korea, Norway, and the United States), for which it is mandatory to undergo financial stability assessments every five years. […]
Tentative Stabilization, Sluggish Recovery?
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In the October World Economic Outlook, we described the global economy as in a synchronized slowdown, with escalating downside risks that could further derail growth. Since then, some risks have partially receded with the announcement of a US-China Phase I trade deal and lower likelihood of a no-deal Brexit. […]