Greetings from Washington DC. It is my great pleasure to speak to you on behalf of the International Monetary Fund and to be with you-virtually, at least-in our dynamic host city of Shanghai. Even in these challenging times, this city stands as a symbol of technology and innovation, reminding us of our collective capacity to build a better future. Today, I will focus my remarks on four topics: (i) the global and Asia-Pacific economic outlook; (ii) lessons we have learned so far from the Asia and Pacific region’s experience in ...

Next year’s rebound from a sharp, 8.1% contraction in Latin American and Caribbean economies in 2020 will be partial and uneven, with output not catching up for years and tourism-dependent countries seen struggling the most, the International Monetary Fund wrote in a report published on Thursday. Regional growth is forecast at just 3.6% next year and most countries aren’t seen returning to pre-COVID gross domestic product levels until 2023, the IMF wrote. “The strong recovery in remittances and exports, together with low oil prices, will contribute to a milder contraction ...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) revised down its 2020 forecast for the Asian economy to a contraction of 2.2 percent, calling it “the worst outcome for this region in living memory.” The latest forecast is a downgrade compared with the projection of a 1.6-percent contraction in June. The IMF’s latest Regional Economic Outlook shows that a recovery started in the third quarter, though growth engines are not all firing with the same strength across all countries, leading to a “multispeed recovery,” Jonathan D. Ostry, acting director of the IMF’s Asia ...

The pandemic is exacting a heavy toll on Europe. More than 240,000 people have lost their lives. Millions have suffered the illness themselves, the loss of loved ones, or major disruption in their work, their businesses, and their daily lives. The economic impact of the pandemic has been enormous. Our latest  Regional Economic Outlook for Europe forecasts a 7 percent decline in Europe’s GDP in 2020. The recovery from this crisis will be uneven and partial. While real GDP is projected to rebound by 4.7 percent in 2021, it would ...

Social dialogue between employers, workers and government can play a central role in managing the impact of the COVID-19 crisis in the workplace and has great potential in ensuring that the livelihoods and opportunities of those hardest hit are protected, according to a new report. Social Dialogue, Skills and COVID-19, published jointly by the OECD, ILO and Global Deal Partnership, says the pandemic has exposed and intensified underlying inequality and is having a disproportionate impact on vulnerable groups already facing insecurity, such as the low-skilled, informal workers, youth and women. ...

Brazil expects to join the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development club of rich nations within a year, Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said on Tuesday, adding that around two-thirds of the preparatory work has already been completed. In a live online event hosted by the Milken Institute, Guedes also said the government was planning an initial public offering of the newly created ‘digital’ arm of state-run Caixa Economica Federal. “We are about to join the OECD. We are fulfilling two-thirds of what the requirements are, and probably in one year ...

Major oil exporters will suffer the sharpest economic contractions this year out of nations in the Middle East and Central Asia region as they are hit by the double whammy of lower oil prices and reduced demand, the IMF said Oct. 19. Real GDP for oil exporters including Saudi Arabia and Iran will shrink 6.6% this year, the International Monetary Fund said in its regional outlook. That compares with a 6% contraction for Gulf Cooperation Council members. Oil exporters will show a $224-billion shortfall in oil revenue this year because ...

It might take countries in the Middle East and Central Asia a decade to return to the economic growth seen before the coronavirus crisis, the International Monetary Fund said, as long-standing regional vulnerabilities weigh on their recovery. Lack of diversification among oil-exporting countries and the reliance of oil importers on sectors like tourism, as well as their dependence on remittances, are likely to curb growth, the IMF said on Monday in its outlook for the region, which spans around 30 countries from Mauritania to Kazakhstan. Oil-exporting countries have been hit ...

The head of the International Monetary Fund on Sunday called for significant steps to address the increasingly unsustainable debt burdens of some countries, urging creditors and debtors to start restructuring processes sooner rather than later. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told an online event hosted by the G30 group of former policymakers and academics that a six-month extension of a freeze in official bilateral payments agreed by the Group of 20 major economies last week would help, but said more urgent action was needed. “We are buying some time, but ...

Strong international cooperation on COVID-19 vaccines could speed up the world economic recovery and add $9 trillion (6.9 trillion pounds) to global income by 2025, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday. Speaking at a news conference after a meeting of the IMF’s steering committee, Georgieva also called on the United States and China to keep up strong economic stimulus that could help boost a global recovery. She emphasized the need for vaccines to be distributed evenly across the world in both developing countries and wealthy nations, ...

On Tuesday, October 13, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) revised its country 2020 and 2021 economic outlook. The multilateral lending institution projected that Chinese economy will grow 1.9% and 8.2% in 2020 and 2021 respectively. The numbers are not a surprise because of China’s successful containment of the COVID-19 pandemic and the government’s effective policies in reversing the economic downward trajectory created by the virus. China successfully contained COVID-19 a few months after its outbreak in January, allowing it to reopen the economy sooner than any major economy. In addition, ...

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread with over 1 million lives tragically lost so far. Living with the novel coronavirus has been a challenge like no other, but the world is adapting. As a result of eased lockdowns and the rapid deployment of policy support at an unprecedented scale by central banks and governments around the world, the global economy is coming back from the depths of its collapse in the first half of this year. Employment has partially rebounded after having plummeted during the peak of the crisis. This ...

The OECD area employment rate – the share of the working-age population with jobs – fell by 4.0 percentage points, to 64.6%, in the second quarter of 2020, its lowest level since the fourth quarter of 2010. Across the OECD area, 560 million persons were in employment in the second quarter of 2020, 34 million less than in the previous quarter. Care is needed in interpreting the latest data however, as a large part of the fall in the second quarter reflects a significant increase in furloughed workers in the ...

The International Monetary Fund has predicted that China’s economy will expand by 1.9 percent this year, nearly double the rate forecast in June, and the country is expected to continue to lead the global economic recovery with robust production and a solid services sector rebound, economists said. China continues to be the only major economy to show positive growth in 2020 and its GDP growth is expected to reach 8.2 percent next year, according to the World Economic Outlook released by IMF on Tuesday. The projection came as China is ...

The United Kingdom faces major challenges from the COVID-19 crisis and leaving the EU Single Market. Ramping up investment in the digital economy, the service sector, green infrastructure and adult skills would strengthen the recovery and help to boost productivity and environmental sustainability for the long term, according to a new OECD report. The latest OECD Economic Survey of the United Kingdom underlines the importance of the emergency support measures put in place to address the coronavirus crisis, but also stresses the need to address longer-term challenges. Active labour market ...