2022 Update of the External Balance Assessment Methodology

2022 Update of the External Balance Assessment Methodology
Author: Mr. Cian Allen
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 68
Release: 2023-03-03
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

The assessment of external positions and exchange rates of member countries is a key mandate of the IMF. The External Balance Assessment (EBA) methodology has provided the framework for conducting external sector assessments by Fund staff since its introduction in 2012. This paper provides the latest version of the EBA methodology, updated in 2022 with additional refinements to the current account and real exchange rate regression models, as well as updated estimates for other components of the EBA methodology. The paper also includes an assessment of how estimated current account gaps based on EBA are associated with future external adjustment.

External Sector Report 2022

External Sector Report 2022
Author: International Monetary Fund. Research Dept.
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 116
Release: 2022-08-04
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

Global current account balances—the overall size of current account deficits and surpluses—continued to widen in 2021 to 3.5 percent of world GDP, and are expected to widen again this year. The IMF’s multilateral approach suggests that global excess balances narrowed to 0.9 percent of world GDP in 2021 compared with 1.2 percent of world GDP in 2020. The pandemic has continued to affect economies’ current account balances unevenly through the travel and transportation sectors as well as a shift from services to goods consumption. Commodity prices recovered from the COVID-19 shock and started rising in 2021 with opposite effects on the external position of exporters and importers, a trend that the war in Ukraine is exacerbating in 2022. The medium-term outlook for global current account balances is a gradual narrowing as the impact of the pandemic fades away, commodity prices normalize, and fiscal consolidation in current account deficit economies progresses. However, this outlook is highly uncertain and subject to several risks. Policies to promote external rebalancing differ with positions and needs of individual economies.

Dominant Drivers of Current Account Dynamics

Dominant Drivers of Current Account Dynamics
Author: Lukas Boer
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 47
Release: 2024-04-26
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

We estimate shocks that explain most of the variation in the current account at business cycle frequencies and over the long run. We then explore, using a standard open-economy macro model, which macroeconomic shocks are behind the empirical dominant drivers of the current account at business-cycle frequency. Rather than financial shocks or aggregate shocks to supply or demand, shocks to the relative demand between home and foreign goods are found to play a pivotal role in current account dynamics.

2024 Staff Guidance Note On The IMF’s Engagement With Small Developing States

2024 Staff Guidance Note On The IMF’s Engagement With Small Developing States
Author: International Monetary Fund. Strategy, Policy, & Review Department
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 68
Release: 2024-07-25
Genre:
ISBN:

This guidance note provides operational guidance on the Fund’s engagement with small developing states (SDS). It highlights the unique economic characteristics and constraints facing SDS, notably in a more shock-prone world. Building on advice that applies to the full membership, the note explains how the characteristics of SDS shape Fund surveillance, financial support and program design, capacity development (CD), and collaboration with other institutions and donors. The note updates the previous version that was published in December 2017.

Algeria

Algeria
Author: International Monetary Fund. Middle East and Central Asia Dept.
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 94
Release: 2024-04-12
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

The Algerian economy was still emerging from the Covid pandemic when it was hit by spillovers from Russia’s war in Ukraine and by recurrent droughts. These shocks fueled inflation while high international hydrocarbon prices also boosted government revenue and exports. Algeria’s economy likely recorded a robust growth in 2023 and the external position remained solid, with a current account surplus for the second year in a row and further accumulation of international reserves. Inflation remains elevated and could become entrenched. The 2023–24 budgets aim at supporting the purchasing power of households but risk depleting the buffers that protect the budget from revenue volatility. Structural reforms are advancing with the enactment of the Monetary and Banking law and the implementation of program budgeting and the 2022 Investment Law. Investment in digitalization would strengthen governance and transparency, reduce corruption risks, and improve service delivery.

Japan: 2022 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Japan

Japan: 2022 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Japan
Author: International Monetary
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 83
Release: 2022-04-06
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

Pre-COVID-19, economic policies under “Abenomics” helped ease financial conditions, exit deflation, and raise labor market participation, but fell short on the deep reforms needed to raise productivity and achieve inclusive and sustainable growth. The Japanese economy is now recovering from the pandemic amid strong policy support that has helped to mitigate the downturn. Japan had substantially lower rates of COVID-related infections and deaths than most advanced economies.

Central and Eastern European Economies and the War in Ukraine

Central and Eastern European Economies and the War in Ukraine
Author: László Mátyás
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 389
Release: 2024
Genre: Europe, Central
ISBN: 3031615611

Zusammenfassung: This book takes stock of and analyses the direct and indirect effects of the war in Ukraine, the policy response to the shock across countries, as well as the potential medium-term economic and social implications and policy challenges. The last decade most Central and Eastern European (CEE) economies have been on a convergence path towards the EU average according to the main economic indicators. In 2022, however, the terrible war in Ukraine had major spillovers to the rest of the world, with the CEE economies being among the most exposed. The millions of refugees, the disruptions to energy supply, trade and supply chains, the surge in inflation, the tightening of global financial conditions, and elevated uncertainty created a radically new economic and social environment in these countries. The volume covers the economic effects of these challenges, the policy options available, and also those related to the eventual reconstruction of Ukraine, including the potential role of the CEE countries. Based on data and evidence-supported policy analysis, each chapter studies the impact of the shock on a particular area of the economy and makes general and country-specific policy recommendations. This makes this book a must-read for students, scholars, and researchers of economics and neighboring disciplines, as well as policy-makers interested in a better understading of the direct and indirect effects of the war in Ukraine on the CEE countries. The book is a sequel to the volume Emerging European Economies after the Pandemic, (Springer Nature, January 2022). Chapter "Economic Growth & Resilience" is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Romania

Romania
Author: International Monetary Fund. European Dept.
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 29
Release: 2022-09-26
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

Selected Issues

An Extended Quarterly Projection Model for the Central Bank of Jordan

An Extended Quarterly Projection Model for the Central Bank of Jordan
Author: Adel Al-Sharkas
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 84
Release: 2023-08-25
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

The Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) has developed a Forecasting and Policy Analysis System (FPAS) to serve as a reliable analytical framework for macroeconomic analysis, forecasting and decision-making under a pegged exchange rate regime. At the heart of the FPAS is the CBJ’s extended Jordan Analysis Model (JAM2.0). The model captures the monetary transmission mechanism and provides a consistent monetary policy framework that uses the exchange rate as an effective nominal anchor. This paper outlines the structure and properties of JAM2.0 and emphasizes the enhanced interplay and tradeoffs among monetary, fiscal, and foreign exchange management policies. Simulation and forecasting exercises demonstrate JAM2.0’s ability to match key stylized facts of the Jordanian economy, produce accurate forecasts of important macroeconomic variables, and explain the critical relationships among policies.