Zambia – IMF Blog

Chart of the Week: Sub-Saharan Africa’s Growth—A Tale of Different Experiences

IMFBlog2019-03-13T10:53:11-04:00December 13, 2018|

December 13, 2018

Villagers of Moruleng mining community in South Africa; Sub-Saharan Africa countries can see an increase in growth by relying less on commodities and more on non-resource intensive investments. (Photo: SIPHIWE SIBEKI/Reuters/Newscom)

The story of Africa’s growth rate over recent years is a tale with several story lines. […]

Countries in the IMF Financial Spotlight in 2017

IMFBlog2019-03-26T13:46:14-04:00January 5, 2017|

By iMFdirect

The IMF will assess a range of financial systems in 2017: large ones such as China and Japan, medium-sized ones like Luxembourg, Spain, and Turkey, and small ones such as Guyana and Zambia. […]

Financing for Sustainable Development: Money and the Right Policies

IMFBlog2019-03-27T16:05:52-04:00June 11, 2015|

By Min Zhu and Sarwat Jahan

(Versions in Español, عربي)

Countries will start a new chapter in their development this year with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. Designed to replace the Millennium Development Goals, these new goals will broaden the vision of development to embrace economic, social, and environmental issues. To achieve these goals, two elements are critical: money and the right policies to use the money. The IMF, along with many others in the global community, will partner with countries to bring these two elements together.

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Managing Capital Flows in Frontier Economies

IMFBlog2019-03-27T17:40:30-04:00April 29, 2015|

By Jonathan D. Ostry, Atish R. Ghosh, and Mahvash S. Qureshi

There has been a remarkable increase in financial flows to frontier economies from private sources which, in relation to their economic size, are now on par with those to emerging economies (see chart).

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A Big Step Forward for Bolstering Financial Inclusion

IMFBlog2017-04-14T01:48:23-04:00January 28, 2015|

By David Marston, Era Dabla-Norris, and D. Filiz Unsal

(version in Español)

Economists are paying increasing attention to the link between financial inclusion—greater availability of and access to financial services—and economic development. In a new paper, we take a closer look at exactly how financial inclusion impacts a country’s economy and what policies are most effective in promoting it.

The new framework developed in this paper allows us to identify barriers to financial inclusion and see how lifting these barriers might affect a country’s output and level of inequality. Because the more you know about what stands in the way of financial inclusion, the better you can be at designing policies that help foster it.

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For Africa, Good Policies Bring Good Prospects

IMFBlog2017-04-14T02:02:09-04:00April 24, 2014|

By Antoinette M. Sayeh

(Version in Français)

Once again, the latest review of growth prospects for sub-Saharan Africa shows that the region’s economy is in strong health. Growth in the region is set to pick up to 5½ percent in 2014 compared to 4.9 percent last year (see Chart 1). My view is that this growth momentum will continue over the medium term if countries rise to new challenges and manage their economies as dexterously as they have over the past decade or so.

So what explains this continued strong growth performance? Apart from good macroeconomic policies in the region, the growth has been underpinned by investment in infrastructure, mining, and strong agricultural output. And favorable global tailwinds—high demand for commodities and low interest rates—have played a major supporting role.

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Public Finances Are on the Mend, but No Clean Bill of Health

IMFBlog2017-04-14T02:02:37-04:00April 9, 2014|

By Sanjeev Gupta and Martine Guerguil

(Version in Español Français, Русский, 中文, and 日本語)

We’ve had a spate of good news on the economic front recently. Does this mean that we are finally out of the fiscal woods? According to our most recent Fiscal Monitor report, not yet, as public debt remains high and the recovery uneven.

First, the good news. The average deficit in advanced economies has halved since the 2009 peak. The average debt ratio is stabilizing. Growth is strengthening in the United States and making a comeback in the euro area, and should benefit from the slower pace of consolidation this year. Emerging markets and developing countries have maintained their resilience, in part thanks to the policy buffers accumulated in the pre-crisis period. Talks of tapering in the United States have left a few of them shaken, but not (quite) stirred.

But there is still some way to go. The average debt ratio in advanced economies, although edging down, sits at historic peaks, and we project it will still remain above 100 percent of GDP by 2019 (Chart 1). The […]

Africa and the Great Recession: Changing Times

IMFBlog2017-04-15T14:08:11-04:00May 14, 2012|

Sub-Saharan Africa's solid growth record has been supported by several factors, including significantly less civil conflict, the generally favorable commodity price developments benefiting Africa’s natural resource exporters; and the extensive debt relief provided to most highly-indebted poor countries. But I would ascribe key importance to sound policy choices by African governments – both in terms of pursuing appropriate macroeconomic policies and pressing ahead with important reform measures.

Shared Frustrations: How to Make Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa More Inclusive

IMFBlog2017-04-15T14:16:51-04:00October 19, 2011|

Suddenly it's the thing everyone is talking about. Income inequality. In North Africa and the Middle East, jobless youth sparked the Arab Spring. In the United States, the growing gap between rich and poor is the “meta concern” of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Worldwide, frustrations appear to be on the rise. And, in sub-Saharan Africa, sustained economic growth may have produced tremendous advances, but a large proportion of the population is still living in poverty. Here, the underlying situation is a little more complex. In July, I wrote about the importance of inclusive growth and whether economic growth was a necessary or a sufficient condition for poverty reduction. Our latest Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa takes that thinking a step further, with new analysis that looks at how living standards for the poorest households have actually been changing in some countries in the region.

This Time It’s Different

IMFBlog2017-04-15T14:40:05-04:00March 12, 2010|

IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn assesses progress in Africa and pulls together some common themes from his visit to Kenya, South Africa, and Zambia.