Photo: aldomurillo/iStock by Getty Images   IMF COUNTRY FOCUS December 14, 2021 Santiago Acosta Ormaechea and Samuel Pienknagura Loor Western Hemisphere Department Public debt ratios in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) increased by about 10 percentage points of GDP in 2020. With debt service costs rising, countries in the […]

December 14, 2021/Oilprice.com Chart of the Week – Despite fears of Omicron playing a large role in markets and the media, OPEC raised its global oil demand forecast for Q1 2022 this week, arguing that Omicron would only have a mild and brief impact.  – In its monthly report, OPEC expects world […]

(LJUBAPHOTO/ISTOCK BY GETTY IMAGES) December 14, 2021/IMFBlog By José Garrido and Jan Nolte  As e-money use grows, regulators need to focus on consumer protection and the integrity of the overall payments system. Imagine you go to pay for your morning coffee and your stored-value card returns an error message, or the wallet in […]