Pandemic, War, and Global Imbalances
Global current account balances—the overall size of current account deficits and surpluses—continued to widen in 2021 to 3.5 percent of world GDP, and are expected to widen again this year. The IMF’s multilateral approach suggests that global excess balances narrowed to 0.9 percent of world GDP in 2021 compared with 1.2 percent of world GDP in 2020.
World Economic Outlook July Update 2022: Gloomy and More Uncertain
A tentative recovery in 2021 has been followed by increasingly gloomy developments in 2022 as risks began to materialize. Global output contracted in the second quarter of this year, owing to downturns in China and Russia, while US consumer spending undershot expectations. Several shocks have hit a world economy already weakened by the pandemic: higher-than-expected inflation worldwide—especially in the United States and major European economies—triggering tighter financial conditions; a worse-than-anticipated slowdown in China, reflecting COVID- 19 outbreaks and lockdowns; and further negative spillovers from the war in Ukraine.
PIMA Handbook: Public Investment Management Assessment, 1st Edition
This handbook is aimed at anyone who is involved in a Public Investment Management Assessment (PIMA) or who has a practical interest in public investment management. It is intended to be useful for country authorities, IMF staff, staff of other financial institutions and development organizations, and anyone who is interested in exploring different aspects of public investment management to understand how country systems are designed and how they work in practice.
Customs Matters: Strengthening Customs Administration in a Changing World
Customs administrations around the world face new challenges: an increasing volume of international trade, a revolution in new technologies, and fundamental changes in business models. The benefits of a well-performing customs administration are clear, as is the need to develop efficient, effective, fair, and modern customs administrations. Customs Matters analyzes the many changes and challenges customs administrations face and pro-poses ways to address them.
Finance and Development Magazine, June 2022
The rare confluence of geopolitical, economic, and technological forces now confronting the world may reverberate for generations. The war is thrusting us into a fraught period of geopolitical realignment, supply disruptions, food and energy insecurity, and more volatile financial markets. These shocks could shake social and political stability in some countries while weakening the world’s ability to confront its foremost long-term challenge, climate change.
Good Governance in Sub-Saharan Africa: Opportunities and Lessons
This book introduces a new framework for more candid discussions of governance and corruption issues with its member countries. It points out that sound institutions may be one of sub-Saharan Africa’s foremost milestones in its journey to sustainable development.