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This article is published in association with IMF. Governments across Sub-Saharan Africa are grappling with the fiscal trilemma: containing debt, meeting development needs through increased spending, and managing resistance to tax hikes. According to the October 2024 World Economic Outlook, while debt-to-GDP ratios are projected to decline, they remain elevated due to persistent risks, including macroeconomic […]
This article is published in association with IMF. Accounting reform is a ‘hot topic’ and pressure exists from international organisations like the World Bank and IMF and consultants, for countries to adopt the international accrual standards of public sector accounting (IPSASs). Countries are attracted by the broad promises of accrual accounting, including increased transparency, better decision […]
This article is published in association with IMF. Talal Rafi Over 3 billion people live in 48 developing countries where their governments pay more on interest payments than on either education or health. That is almost half the world’s population. Education and health are key areas of spending if governments want to increase the productivity of […]
This article is published in association with IMF. Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas We project global growth will remain steady at 3.3 percent this year and next, broadly aligned with potential growth that has substantially weakened since before the pandemic. Inflation is declining, to 4.2 percent this year and 3.5 percent next year, in a return to central bank […]
This article is published in association with IMF. Côte d’Ivoire has become a pillar of growth and stability for the region, thanks to its impressive economic resilience and commitment to reform, but efforts to address certain challenges need to be maintained. The Ivoirien economy has performed strongly over the past decade, with GDP growth averaging 6.4 […]
This article is published in association with IMF. Institutional memory loss, like its individual counterpart, happens slowly – and then it happens very fast. No finance ministry is exempt from this challenge, but those which address it proactively are better able to build for the future. Clearly written technical manuals play an important role in retaining […]
This article is published in association with IMF. Tristan Hennig, Shujaat Khan Asia-Pacific’s economies are likely to experience labor market shifts because of artificial intelligence, with advanced economies being affected more. About half of all jobs in the region’s advanced economies are exposed to AI, compared to only about a quarter in emerging market and developing […]
This article is published in association with IMF. Julie Cooper, Tim Youngberry New Public Financial Management (NPFM) emerged in the 1980s as a transformative approach to public sector governance, aimed at enhancing efficiency, accountability, and responsiveness. Rooted in principles drawn from private sector management, NPFM promotes results-oriented practices such as performance-based budgeting, measurable outcomes, and decentralized […]
This article is published in association with IMF. Jeff Kearns The biggest issues confronting the global economy drew the broadest interest among IMF blog readers around the world this year. Artificial intelligence attracted the greatest interest, making the January 2024 post by Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva the most read among all IMF blog posts ever published. […]
This article is published in association with IMF. Public debt in Latin America’s major economies is on pace to average 55 percent of gross domestic product this year, up significantly from 34 percent in 2013 (when the region’s commodity boom ended) and reversing the improvements achieved in the earlier part of this century. The regional figure […]
This article is published in association with IMF. Alfred Kammer, Andrew Hodge, Roberto Piazza Industrial policy is having a moment in Europe, as countries increasingly turn to sectoral policy interventions to address the challenges of geopolitical fragmentation and economic security, enhance productivity, and accelerate the green transition. State aid spending by European Union countries has tripled […]
This article is published in association with IMF. Anika Heckwolf, Leandro Rossi, Frank van Lerven This new tool offers Ministries of Finance (MoFs) the means to rapidly assess their climate capabilities and build the expertise and coordination mechanisms essential for a sustainable future. The transition to a zero-carbon, climate-resilient economy represents a significant global structural shift […]
This article is published in association with IMF. Gita Bhatt Wherever I go these days, the conversation inevitably focuses on the rising cost of housing. The concerns span generations, locations, and income levels. Young people may be the most disillusioned as they see their ability to buy or rent diminished just as they plan to start families. The […]
This article is published in association with IMF. Poland is one of the success stories of European economic convergence. The country, which in January takes the reins of the Council of the European Union (the decision-making institution representing the Union’s member states) is now the EU’s sixth largest economy. This convergence process was driven by the […]
This article is published in association with IMF. Global debt decreased about one percentage point to 237 percent GDP. The values for 2023 are now available from the just released IMF’s Global Debt Database. Global private debt fell by 2.8 percentage points to 143 percent of GDP, below the 2019 level and more than compensated for the […]
This article is published in association with IMF. Washington, DC – November 20, 2024: A coalition of international organizations today launched high-level guidelines for public authorities seeking to harness open finance to accelerate digital financial services and innovation and increase usage of a broader range of financial products. Alongside investment in digital public infrastructure, and ongoing […]
This article is published in association with IMF. Economists monitor income disparities because they can harden into more structural wealth inequalities that concern policymakers. Wider wealth gaps may also impact monetary policy transmission and financial stability. Accordingly, the European System of Central Banks developed new experimental Distributional Wealth Accounts for the euro area and most European […]
This article is published in association with IMF. Athene Laws, Faten Saliba, Can Sever, Luc Tucker As the rest of the world grapples with aging populations, Africa’s population is booming. By 2030, half of all new entrants into the global labor force will come from sub-Saharan Africa, requiring the creation of up to 15 million new […]
This article is published in association with IMF. The world’s governments must raise an additional $3 trillion to achieve sustainable and inclusive economic growth goals this decade. The cost in emerging markets equals 4 percent of gross domestic product—and 16 percent for low-income countries. How can countries finance such staggering price tags? Large cities such as […]
This article is published in association with IMF. Civil service reform and public financial management (PFM) reform are closely intertwined, both vital to improving governance. Strong PFM helps ensure public sector efficiency and transparency, which in turn supports economic growth, improves service delivery, and reduces corruption. Similarly, civil service reform seeks to improve the delivery of […]
This article is published in association with IMF. Paulo Medas, Masafumi Yabara Recent years have demonstrated the critical role of fiscal policy in shielding households and the economy from large shocks, but the costs can be large. Many Asia-Pacific countries currently face substantial challenges, including lower growth and the impact of aging and climate change, while […]
This article is published in association with IMF. Growth is projected to hold steady, but amid weakening prospects and rising threats, the world needs a shift in policy gears Let’s start with the good news: it looks like the global battle against inflation has largely been won, even if price pressures persist in some countries. After […]
This article is published in association with IMF. When it comes to financial stability, the world is facing a split screen of short-term and medium-term factors. The good news is that near-term financial stability risks remain contained. Why? Because the likelihood of a soft landing for the global economy has significantly increased. As inflation continues to […]
This article is published in association with IMF. Effective communication, civic engagement, and earning the public’s trust are the keys to advance pro-growth reforms Silvia Albrizio, Bertrand Gruss, Yu Shi The global economy is stuck in a low-growth gear, largely because of aging populations, weak business investment, and structural frictions that prevent capital and labor from […]
This article is published in association with IMF. Jorge Alvarez, Alberto Musso, Jean-Marc Natal, Sebastian Wende The inflation surge followed a unique disruption to the global economy, but it still offers important lessons for central banks The inflation surge over the past three years followed a unique disruption to the global economy. Pandemic lockdowns initially tilted […]
This article is published in association with IMF. Mario Catalán, Andrea Deghi, Mahvash S. Qureshi Uncertainty is not as easily measured as traditional indicators like growth or inflation, but economists have built some reliable proxies. One of the best-known gauges is the Economic Policy Uncertainty Index, which tallies how many news stories in major publications cite […]
This article is published in association with IMF. David Heald My new journal article with Ron Hodges (University of Birmingham) explores what has gone wrong with UK accounting and fiscal governance. The UK is a long-established parliamentary democracy and an important European economy. While we reject the ‘Britain is broken’ narrative which has been popularized, we […]
Why Women Risk Losing Out in Shift to Green Jobs
This article is published in association with IMF. Zhuolin Li Public Financial Management (PFM) knowledge management remains a significant challenge for many public institutions. The core issue lies in the fact that most knowledge is not effectively captured, shared, or utilized. As a result, a valuable resource is left untapped, and more importantly, the ability to […]
This article is published in association with IMF. Geoffroy Dolphin, Magnus Merkle Poor households in Germany and France pay up to $2 more per ton of emitted carbon dioxide than their higher-income compatriots. That is because products and services that wealthier people are likelier to consume—such as imported goods and travel outside the European Union—are exempt […]
This article is published in association with IMF. A recent article in The Economist[1] argued that there were several ways in which central bankers took decisions about monetary policy, for example whether and when to increase or reduce interest rates. Most central banks now appoint committees of senior officials to take such decisions. The article points […]
This article is published in association with IMF. Large fiscal deficits and elevated debt levels call for greater fiscal prudence, but political forces are pulling in the opposite way Era Dabla-Norris, Enrico Di Gregorio, Yongquan Cao September 16, 2024 Conservative politics has traditionally been defined by its emphasis on fiscal prudence and the idea of a […]
This article is published in association with IMF. The Gambia has been relying heavily on donor support to finance critical government activities. Approximately 27 percent of the budget was funded by donors on average between 2018 and 2023. The support seems to have reached its peak despite the country’s growing developmental needs. In response, the government […]
