(Credit: Pius Utomi Ekpei/IMF Photo) May 21, 2026/IMFBlog By Grace Li, Constant Lonkeng, and Nikola Spatafora As global conditions worsen and policy room shrinks, the region needs a new growth model—one that crowds in private investment, lifts productivity, and creates better jobs for a fast-growing young labor force. At current […]
World News
Measuring Financial Health
May 20, 2026/US Federal Reserve By Governor Michael S. Barr Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today.1 In preparing for this event, I found myself reflecting on the evolution of the concept of financial health. What began as a push for expanding financial access has evolved over the […]
Nigeria’s Core Reserves: Peeling Back the Layers
Summary Nigeria’s external reserves story in 2025 and early 2026 has been, on its face, remarkable. Gross reserves touched a 17-year high of $50.45 billion in February 2026. The CBN disclosed a Net Foreign Exchange Reserve (NFER) of $34.80 billion at end-2025, a figure that exceeds the country’s entire gross […]
