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International Monetary Fund. Secretary's Department

Abstract

The experience of the global economy since the end of the pandemic has been turbulent. The 2024 IMF Annual Report highlights the IMF’s work to on global challenges, including safeguarding macroeconomic stability, returning to fiscal sustainability, bringing inflation back to targets, and embracing transformative developments. In FY 2024, the Fund continued to support its members in our three core areas: 1) Economic surveillance: 128 country health checks completed. 2) Lending: $70 billion to 30 countries, including about $15 billion to 20 low-income countries, for a total of $357 billion to 97 countries since the start of the pandemic. 3) Capacity development: $382 million for hands-on technical advice, policy-oriented training, and peer learning. The report is also available in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. Note: The 2024 IMF Annual Report covers the activities of the Executive Board and IMF management and staff during the financial year May 1, 2023, through April 30, 2024, and in some cases more recently. Background: The Annual Report website includes the IMF’s financial statements for FY 2024 and other background documentation. The Annual Report and the financial statements are also available online at www.imfbookstore.org or www.elibrary.IMF.org

International Monetary Fund. Communications Department
This issue of F&D takes a fresh look at the discipline of economics. We invited prominent economists with different perspectives to tell us how the profession can become better at answering 21st century challenges.
International Monetary Fund. Statistics Dept.
This Technical Assistance report on Ghana focuses on the diagnostic mission on macro-relevant climate change statistics. Discussions were conducted during plenary and bilateral sessions with key national stakeholders representing data compilers and users to take stock of work already undertaken on environment and climate change related statistics for Ghana, ongoing capacity development initiatives with other agencies, policy needs and data gaps, and data sources. Secondary priorities including mineral and energy resource and energy statistics, as well as carbon footprints, were identified and it is expected that project participants will agree on a roadmap for their compilation during a second phase of the project after Air Emissions Accounts are compiled. The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), which is at the center of the national statistical system, will continue to coordinate the collaboration between agencies participating in this project in close consultation with the Environment Protection Agency (EPA). A technical coordinating group will include key stakeholders from the agencies participating in the plenary sessions and be chaired by the GSS and the EPA. Meetings will be held as needed.
International Monetary Fund. Secretary's Department

Abstract

The 2023 IMF Annual Report highlights the IMF’s work to support its members to address successive shocks, including Russia’s war on Ukraine, inflation, debt vulnerabilities, inequality food insecurity, geoeconomic fragmentation, climate change, and digitalization. In FY 2023, the Fund continued to support its members in our three core areas: 1) Economic surveillance: 126 country health checks completed.2) Lending: $74 billion to 36 countries, including about $11 billion to 21 low-income countries, for a total of $294 billion to 96 countries since the start of the pandemic. 3) Capacity development: $337 million for hands-on technical advice, policy-oriented training, and peer learning. The report is also available in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. Note: The 2023 IMF Annual Report covers the activities of the Executive Board and IMF management and staff during the financial year May 1, 2022, through April 30, 2023, and in some cases more recently. Background: The Annual Report website includes the IMF’s financial statements for FY 2023 and other background documentation. The Annual Report and the financial statements are also available online at www.imfbookstore.org or www.elibrary.IMF.org

International Monetary Fund. European Dept.
This Selected Issues paper on Switzerland focuses on assessing Swiss National Bank (SNB) balance sheet changes in 2022. This paper clarifies the main underlying drivers, discusses potential implications, or lack thereof, on monetary and fiscal policies, and assesses the SNB’s financial performance. Central banks’ financial results are not directly comparable with each other, given their non-profit nature, the differences in their mandates and, importantly, their different accounting policies. In particular, many other central banks would have recorded much larger financial losses in 2022 if mark-to-market accounting were applied. The SNB’s financial loss in 2022 is not expected to have an impact on monetary policy operations. The SNB has appropriately warned about risks to its balance sheet, including during periods of high profitability. In addition, the SNB put in place sound safeguards against such risks, and provided transparent communications on its investment strategy. Nevertheless, large balance sheets are subject to risks, highlighting communication challenges during periods of both large profits and losses. In this context, the SNB should continue to regularly review its investment strategy and maintain adequate safeguards.
International Monetary Fund. Secretary's Department

Abstract

The report, available in nine languages, highlights the IMF's work on COVID-19 recovery and the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine; inflation; how to achieve an equitable recovery; debt; and climate change, digital money and inclusion.

International Monetary Fund. Strategy, Policy, & Review Department
Ensuring economic sustainability is key to achieving the IMF’s surveillance mandate of maintaining present and prospective balance of payments and domestic stability, assuring orderly exchange arrangements, and promoting a stable system of exchange rates. A good understanding of issues related to economic sustainability is thus essential for the IMF to provide effective surveillance and policy advice, while it requires a broad perspective and a long time horizon. With respect to the IMF’s surveillance mandate, the principle of macro-criticality, which guides the IMF’s engagement with its members, is sufficiently flexible and broad, allowing the IMF to cover issues related to economic sustainability. At the same time, given the wide range of issues that are related to economic sustainability, IMF surveillance needs to be selective and focused, with the choice of issues made on a case-by-case basis, considering country circumstances. It also needs to leverage the expertise of other institutions when necessary. The IMF and other institutions have advanced work to enhance analytical frameworks and indicators related to economic sustainability, and this should continue.
International Monetary Fund. Secretary's Department

Abstract

This year, as the world faced a crisis like no other, the International Monetary Fund and its member countries swung into action to save lives and put a floor under the world economy. But the outlook remains uncertain. Countries now face a “long ascent” that will be difficult, uneven, uncertain, and prone to setbacks. The IMF is working to help countries focus on "policies for people" to generate a transformational recovery through job-rich growth that benefits all.

International Monetary Fund. Monetary and Capital Markets Department

Abstract

The April 2020 Global Financial Stability Report (GFSR) assesses the financial stability challenges posed by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Chapter 1 describes how financial conditions tightened abrubtly with the onset of the pandemic, with risk asset prices dropping sharply as investors rushed to safety and liquidity. It finds that a further tightening of financial conditions may expose vulnerabilities, including among nonbank financial institutions, and that bank resilience may be tested if economic and financial market stresses rise. Vulnerabilities in global risky corporate credit markets, including weakened credit quality of borrowers, looser underwriting standards, liquidity risks at investment funds, and increased interconnectedness, could generate losses at nonbank financial institutions in a severe adverse scenario, as discussed in Chapter 2. The pandemic led to an unprecedented and sharp reversal of portfolio flows, highlighting the challenges of managing flows in emerging and frontier markets. Chapter 3 shows that global financial conditions tend to influence portfolio flows more during surges than in normal times, that stronger domestic fundamentals can help mitigate outflows, and that greater foreign participation in local currency bond markets may increase price volatility where domestic markets lack depth. Beyond the immediate challenges of COVID-19, Chapter 4 explores the profitability pressures that banks are likely to face over the medium term in an environment where low interest rates are expected to persist. Chapter 5 takes a broader perspective on physical risks associated with climate change. It finds that these risks do not appear to be reflected in global equity valuations and that stress testing and better disclosure of exposures to climatic hazards are essential to better assess physical risk.