Abstract
The period from May 2013 through April 2014—the IMF’s financial year 20141—saw the world economy reach a critical juncture: emerging from the greatest financial crisis in almost a hundred years. Recovery was taking hold but was too slow and faced many obstacles along the road. In her Global Policy Agenda, the IMF’s Managing Director set out bold policy steps that could overcome these obstacles and take the global economy toward more rapid and sustainable growth. The top priority was to strengthen the coherence of the policies and cooperation among policymakers, both at home and across borders: national prosperity and global prosperity are linked and depend, more than ever before, on countries working together. The IMF is indispensable for this global cooperation.
Abstract
As FY2010 drew to a close,1 the global economy appeared to be emerging from the worst recession in over 60 years. The recovery remained uneven, however, with some economies growing very robustly, while others were experiencing more tepid rebounds, and downside risks were increasing-and continued to do so in early FY2011. Policies are needed to address these risks and set the stage for a return to strong and sustained global growth.