An Open and Diverse Economy To Benefit All Algerians

Posted on March 18, 2013 by iMFdirect

Christine LagardeBy Christine Lagarde

(Version in عربي)

I was in Algiers last week, my first time as the Managing Director of the IMF. It was a good visit: we reaffirmed the special partnership between Algeria and the IMF, and I was able to gain a deeper insight into Algeria’s aspirations—and also its challenges in reaching a hopeful future.

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Filed under: Africa, International Monetary Fund | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

What We Can Do To Improve Women’s Economic Opportunities

Posted on March 8, 2013 by iMFdirect

Christine LagardeBy Christine Lagarde

Versions in  عربي, 中文, Français, 日本語, Русский, and Español

Today, I invite all of you to celebrate International Women’s Day. Let’s celebrate the incredible progress women have made over the past decades in different parts of society, playing a key role in economic life that our grandmothers worked for and dreamed about. Today, although men still dominate the executive suites in most professions, women all over the world hold high positions in the private sector and in public office. Women are no longer the Second Sex Simone de Beauvoir wrote about.

But far too many women face the most fundamental challenges: the right to safety and to choose the life they want.

Across the globe, fewer women than men are in paid employment, with only about 50 percent of working-age women participating in the labor force. In many countries, laws, regulations and social norms still constrain women’s possibilities to seek paid employment. And all over the world women conduct most of the work that remains unseen and unpaid, in the fields and in households.

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Filed under: Africa, Asia, Europe, growth, International Monetary Fund, Latin America, Middle East, Politics | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Jobs. Jobs. Jobs. Getting the Labor Markets Working Again

Posted on November 7, 2012 by iMFdirect

By Olivier Blanchard

The sharp and persistent rise in unemployment in advanced economies since the 2008-09 financial crisis is a hotly debated policy issue.  Rightly so:  High persistent unemployment has major human and economic costs, from loss of morale to loss of skills.  More broadly, it seems to undermine the very fabric of society.

Against this backdrop, the theme for the IMF’s 13th Jacques Polak Annual Research Conference, “Labor Markets through the Lens of the Great Recession,” could not be timelier. This year’s conference program weaves together a number of contributions by researchers both inside and outside the IMF, aiming to shed light on those labor market issues that are central to the current economic and social landscape.

Cyclical vs. structural

Peter Diamond, Nobel Prize winner in Economics and Professor of Economics at MIT, will give the keynote Mundell-Fleming lecture on the controversial issue of cyclical vs. structural unemployment.

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Filed under: Advanced Economies, Asia, Economic Crisis, Economic outlook, Economic research, Employment, Europe, Financial Crisis, Globalization, growth, IMF, Inequality, Investment, Politics | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Debt in a Time of Protests

Posted on October 16, 2012 by iMFdirect

by Nemat Shafik

As the world economy continues to struggle, people are taking to the streets by the thousands to protest painful cuts in public spending designed to reduce government debt and deficits. This fiscal fury is understandable.

People want to regain the confidence they once had about the future when the economy was booming and more of us had jobs.

But after a protracted economic crisis, this will take planning, fair burden-sharing, and time itself.

If history is any guide, there is no silver bullet to debt reduction. Experience shows that it takes time to reduce government debt and deficits. Sustained efforts over many years will ultimately lead to success.

Most countries have made significant headway in rolling back fiscal deficits. By the end of next year in more than half of the world’s advanced economies, and about the same share of emerging markets, we expect deficits —adjusted for the economic cycle—to be at the same level or lower than before the global economic crisis hit in 2008.

But with a sluggish recovery, efforts at controlling debt stocks are taking longer to yield results, particularly in advanced economies. Gross public debt is nearing 80 percent of GDP on average for advanced economies—over 100 percent in several of them—and we do not expect it to stabilize before 2014-15.

So what can governments do to ease the pain and pave the way for successful debt reduction?

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Filed under: Advanced Economies, Annual Meetings, Asia, Economic Crisis, Emerging Markets, Employment, Europe, Finance, Fiscal policy, growth, IMF, Inequality, International Monetary Fund, Politics, Public debt, recession | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments »

Restoring Jobs by Restoring Growth

Posted on October 3, 2012 by iMFdirect

By Min Zhu

Over 200 million people are unemployed around the world, with double-digit jobless rates in many European countries and in many emerging markets. Youth unemployment and long-term unemployment are at alarming levels.

The number of unemployed people is nearly 16 million higher today than in 2007 among countries where labor markets are tracked regularly by the IMF. Much of this increase has been in advanced economies (Chart 1).

The need to tackle the unemployment crisis in these economies is self-evident. But what is to be done?

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Filed under: Advanced Economies, Economic Crisis, Economic research, Emerging Markets, Employment, Europe, Finance, Fiscal policy, growth, Inequality, International Monetary Fund, Politics | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments »

Tackling The Jobs Crisis: What’s To Be Done?

Posted on July 23, 2012 by iMFdirect

by Gerd Schwartz and Ruud de Mooij

Faced with a jobs crisis, policymakers the world over are digging deep into their policy toolkits to generate more employment. A recent study by the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department argues that reforms of tax and expenditure policies offer great promise in helping countries confront the jobs crisis, including in the short term.

The study argues that improving employment outcomes, over and above what could be achieved through policies aimed at supporting the demand for goods and services by consumers and investors, requires actively supporting labor demand, strengthening incentives (or reducing disincentives) to work, and expanding training and job assistance, while preserving equity objectives.

The labor market challenge

The economic and social consequences of job losses since the onset of the global crisis have been enormous. However, as bad as the crisis has been for jobs, unemployment was already elevated before the crisis in many advanced and emerging economies. This would suggest that labor market challenges will not go away as the global economy recovers, and that policy measures are needed both to address structural employment issues and to improve the employment outlook in the short term.

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Filed under: Advanced Economies, Economic Crisis, Employment, Europe, Fiscal policy, growth, IMF, International Monetary Fund | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Africa and the Great Recession: Changing Times

Posted on May 14, 2012 by iMFdirect

By Antoinette Sayeh

(Version in Français)

In previous global downturns, sub-Saharan Africa has usually been badly affected—but not this time around.

The world economy has experienced much dislocation since the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008. Output levels in many advanced economies still remain below pre-crisis levels, while unemployment levels have surged; growth in emerging market economies has slowed, but remains quite high.

But in sub-Saharan Africa, growth for the region as a whole has remained reasonably strong (around 5 percent), except for 2009 – where the decline in world output and associated shrinking of world trade pushed Africa’s growth down to below 3 percent.

Some better than others

Of course, sub-Saharan Africa is a diverse region, and not all economies have fared equally well. The more advanced economies in the region (notably South Africa) have close links to export markets in the advanced economies, and have experienced a sharper slowdown, and weaker recovery, than did the bulk of the region’s low-income economies.  Countries affected by civil strife (such as Cote d’Ivoire, and now Mali) and by drought have also fared less well than other economies in the region.

So why has most of sub-Saharan Africa continued to record solid growth against the backdrop of such a weak global economy?  And can we expect this solid growth performance to continue in the next few years?

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Filed under: Advanced Economies, Africa, Asia, Debt Relief, Economic Crisis, Economic outlook, Economic research, Emerging Markets, Employment, Europe, growth, Inequality, International Monetary Fund, LICs, Low-income countries, Politics, Public debt, recession | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments »

How to Get the Balance Right: Fiscal Policy At a Time of Crisis

Posted on May 6, 2012 by iMFdirect

By Anders Borg and Christine Lagarde

Last autumn was a turbulent time for Europe. The debt crisis deepened and financial markets became embroiled in turmoil, driven by fears of widespread restructuring of public debt. The crisis has harmed growth, increased unemployment, and left a large number of people less protected.

We are now seeing some signs of stabilization. Most countries are reducing their deficits and even if debt ratios are still rising, the return back to fiscal health has begun.

The International Monetary Fund and the Swedish Ministry of Finance are hosting an international conference in Stockholm on May 7-8, with the purpose of sharing knowledge and providing guidance on the best way to achieve fiscal consolidation, and on the role that effective fiscal policy frameworks and institutions can play in this endeavor.

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Filed under: Advanced Economies, Economic Crisis, Employment, Europe, Financial Crisis, Financial sector supervision, Fiscal policy, Fiscal Stimulus, growth, Inequality, International Monetary Fund, Multilateral Cooperation, Politics, Public debt, recession | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments »

Saudi Arabia: a Key Regional and Global Player

Posted on February 8, 2012 by iMFdirect

By Christine Lagarde

(Version in عربي)

I have just returned from Saudi Arabia, where I was welcomed with exceptional warmth and hospitality. It was my first visit as the Managing Director of the IMF.

It was a pleasure to be in Saudi Arabia, a country with rich heritage and culture. And a country that is seeking to chart a path that balances the drive for greater economic development and closer integration into the global economy with the strong desire to preserve the traditions and values of its people.

I had the privilege of meeting H.M. King Abdullah, senior government officials, and representatives of the private sector. Our discussions were productive and constructive, and we traded views on current global, regional, and domestic developments. (more…)

Filed under: Economic Crisis, Economic outlook, Employment, Europe, Global Governance, growth, IMF, Inequality, International Monetary Fund, Middle East, Multilateral Cooperation, recession | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Meeting the Employment Challenge in the GCC

Posted on January 19, 2012 by iMFdirect

By Masood Ahmed

(Version in عربي)

The issue of how to create more jobs is high on the minds of policymakers everywhere. The economies of the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—are no exception.

By many measures, these economies are doing very well. Abundant oil and gas reserves are producing large budget and external surpluses, growth is up, and considerable strides have been made on social indicators.

Yet, economic activity is dominated by the oil/gas sector and—given that many GCC countries have proven reserves of at least another 50–100 years at current rates of production—will remain so. However, that sector creates relatively few jobs directly—it employs less than 3 percent of the region’s labor force.

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Filed under: Employment, growth, International Monetary Fund, Middle East, عربي | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

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