War in Ukraine

(PHOTO: CANVA)

The IMF is shocked and saddened by the war in Ukraine and is responding to the country’s request for emergency financing assistance, Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Tuesday.

In a joint statement with World Bank President David Malpass, Georgieva said that people are being killed, injured, and forced to flee, and massive damage is being done to the country’s physical infrastructure.

“We stand with the Ukrainian people through these horrifying developments.”

The war is also creating significant spillovers to other countries, Georgieva said, reinforcing comments made in an earlier statement on Feb. 25 which warned of significant economic repercussions for the region and the world.

“Commodity prices are being driven higher and risk further fueling inflation, which hits the poor the hardest. Disruptions in financial markets will continue to worsen should the conflict persist. The sanctions announced over the last few days will also have a significant economic impact.”

–Emergency Financing: Georgieva said the IMF is responding to Ukraine’s request for emergency financing through the Rapid Financing Instrument, which the Board could consider as early as next week.

In addition, the IMF continues to work on Ukraine’s Stand-By Arrangement program, under which an additional $2.2 billion is available between now and the end of June, Georgieva said.

“This crisis affects the lives and livelihoods of people around the world, and we offer them our full support.”

📚 Read an interview with The Observer’s Larry Elliott, in which Georgieva speaks of her fears for her family in the besieged Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.

Sustainable Finance in Emerging Markets

(IMAGE: MACIEK905/ISTOCK BY GETTY IMAGES)

Most of the activity in the rapidly growing world of sustainable finance has been previously concentrated in advanced economies, but emerging markets, while still a small share of the total, saw a surge last year, the IMF’s Deepali Gautam, Rohit Goel and Fabio Natalucci said in a blog on Tuesday.

Emerging markets’ share has increased for the first time since 2016, underscoring the growing investor appetite for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) products, but this growing opportunity also poses new risks.

–ESG debt issuance: ESG-linked debt issuance more than tripled last year to $190 billion. Sustainability-related equity fund flows also rose, to $25 billion, bringing total assets under management to nearly $150 billion.

Financial stability risks include the different investor base relative to more traditional investors and a potentially higher sensitivity to global financial conditions, given the technology-heavy composition of many ESG indices.

Policymakers should strengthen the climate information architecture to incentivize efficient pricing of such risks and avoid greenwashing, the use of green labels or strategies that are often unverified or deceptive about environmental soundness, the authors say.

New Issue of F&D: Rethinking Fiscal

(IMAGE: PETER REYNOLDS)

In our March 2022 issue of F&D Magazine, published this week, we focus on “Rethinking Fiscal: Public Finance and Fairness in a Changed World”. The pandemic underscored the importance of fiscal policy in saving lives and livelihoods. Now, governments face the tricky task of returning debts to sustainable levels, even as conflict in Ukraine riles world markets.

“How a society manages its fiscal affairs decides the fate of the nation and the well-being of its people,” writes F&D editor-in-chief Gita Bhatt.

In this issue, a lineup of accomplished authors provide insight and analysis on some of the biggest issues policymakers face when it comes to fiscal policy ranging from debt to institutional frameworks to taxation. In addition, we have complementary podcasts, videos, and other multimedia elements to stimulate your thinking.

FEATURED ARTICLES:

• A Fine Balancing Act | Vitor Gaspar
• Deciding When Debt Becomes Unsafe | Olivier Blanchard
• Shining a Light on Debt | Ceyla Pazarbasioglu and Carmen M. Reinhart
• A Call for New Fiscal Rules | Arminio Fraga
• Steady Prices, Sustainable Debt | Ricardo Reis
• Fiscal Institutions and the Pandemic | Felipe Larrain Bascuñan
• Understanding the Social State | Emmanuel Saez
• Taxing for a New Social Contract | Alex Cobham
• The Education Pandemic | Yamini Aiyar
• Meeting the Future | Analisa R. Bala, Adam Behsudi, and Nicholas Owen
• Adding Ethics to Public Finance | Paolo Mauro
• Tackling Inequality on All Fronts | David Amaglobeli and Celine Thevenot
• Mapping the Unknown | Ian Ball, John Crompton, and Dag Detter
• Currency Revolution | Interview with Eswar Prasad

Also in this issue: Prakash profiles the University of Chicago’s Marianne Bertrand for our People in Economics series. Togo’s minister of digital economy and transformation, Cina Lawson, explains in our In the Trenches interview series how her country has harnessed technology to deliver fiscal policy. Our Picture This series, led by Andrew Stanley, provides the big picture on global inequalities. Ruud de Mooij and Arthur Swistak provide a run down on value-added taxes in our Back to Basics series. Finally, in our Currency Notes series Melinda Weir writes how Mexico is featuring literature and butterflies on its banknotes.

We also review three new books: Career & Family: Women’s Century-Long Journey Toward Equity by Claudia Goldin; The Global Currency Power of the US Dollar by Anthony Elson; and Harry White and the American Creed: How a Federal Bureaucrat Created the Modern Global Economy (and Failed to Get the Credit) by James M. Boughton.

Want to get a print copy delivered to your home or office? Click here to subscribe.

(PHOTO: IMF)

Georgieva Interview

In an interview with The Observer’s Larry Elliott, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva talks about COVID-19, the climate crisis, and the war in Ukraine. “For the first time in at least two decades, countries that used to be catching up are falling behind,” she says. “Poverty is growing, hunger is growing and instability is growing.”

(PHOTO: IMF)

Europe’s Labor Market

An expansion of job-protection schemes in the euro area kept 4 million people in work in 2020, according to an IMF staff paper published on Thursday. Watch Gita Gopinath, IMF First Deputy Managing Director, and others discussing future employment challenges.

(PHOTO: IMF)

Cash in Fragile States

Fiscal institutional capacity in most fragile states and some low-income developing countries is much lower than in other countries. A new IMF staff how-to note sets out the building blocks of a cash management function in such countries.

(PHOTO: IMF)

Tax the Rich?

Economists often focus on economic efficiency when answering questions like this. But in a new podcast, the IMF’s Paolo Mauro says considering people’s moral perspectives makes policy choices more politically feasible and sustainable. 

WEEKLY ROUND-UP

01. Latin America After the Pandemic

Ilan Goldfajn, Director of the IMF’s Western Hemisphere Department, took part in a discussion hosted by the Peterson Institute for International Economics on Wednesday to launch a book he has co-authored on Latin America’s Post-Pandemic Decade. Watch a video of the panel discussion, also featuring Carmen Reinhart, Chief Economist at the World Bank, of the lessons for future crisis management, reforms for sustainable growth, and social challenges in the region.

02. Africa’s Monetary Policy

In opening remarks at a conference on monetary policy in Sub-Saharan Africa on Monday, the IMF’s Africa Department Director Abe Selassie took stock of the progress made by central banks in controlling inflation over the past three decades. “This improvement in price stability contributed to less volatile economic outcomes, higher growth, and better living conditions for the region’s populations,” he said.

03. Bank Risks in the Gulf

Financial risks facing banks in the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council have mostly been contained, but profitability and asset quality were adversely affected by the COVID-19 crisis, according to a new IMF staff paper. Policymakers need to strike a balance between supporting recovery and mitigating risks to financial stability, including ensuring that banks’ buffers can withstand the withdrawal of COVID-related support, the paper says.

04. State-Owned Enterprises

The struggles faced by state-owned enterprises inevitably end up impacting government budgets and balance sheets through lower revenues, higher transfers and contingent liabilities. The IMF has developed a new tool to monitor the financial and economic performance of individual SOEs and the possible fiscal risks they pose to governments.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

The IMF and European Commission will host the Tenth African Fiscal Forum on Mar. 10-12. The virtual forum will discuss wide-ranging fiscal reforms needed to preserve the sustainability of public finances and enhance the resilience of African economies, featuring, among others, Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF’s Managing Director, Zainab Ahmed, Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, and Ahmat Jidoud, Niger’s Minister of Finance. The event will be streamed live here.